you go bikoy!

sheesh! the truth is, we should not even pay for our tuition in UP. kasi government dapat ang nagpo-provide dun. but no! for me, this is simply proof that education is really not prioritized by the government.

other than that, if there is a tuition increase that much, it would be like we are actually among the ranks of ateneo and la salle. pero sa facilities… ah basta.

Discussion vs. Celeni? Who’s discussion?

BTW, in Steven Levitt’s Freakonomics, it was argued that children who perform better in school tend to have parents who have graduate/post-graduate degrees. Mostly because of their financial capabilities to provide an environment of education for their children, therefore adapting better learning conditions making it significant to school performance, and yes, getting accepted to university.

So it’s not lack of opportunities provided by the government. It’s not only (note, I said NOT ONLY and not uh… NOT LoL) the government’s fault that middle-class-upper-middle-class people are in its “semi-free” universities.

Some things people need to consider:
a) Priority of the education budget should be allocated to primary and secondary education, not to tertiary level education. If you forsake primary and secondary for tertiary, you will have students who can barely write a paper, let alone a thesis. So people asking for greater state subsidy for UP should realize that unless the government can increase the funding overall (which is harder to do), you are essentially taking money away from primary and secondary education.

b) the primary source of funding for colleges and universities shouldn’t be the government nor the students. It should be through donors. Take a look at all the major and prestigious universities. Even if their tuition fee is high for our standards, that only amounts for less than 20% (estimating) of their funds. This is something that was paid attention to during Nemenzo’s term, which explains how a lot of buildings were completed, and some were renovated WITHOUT increasing tuition fees. On the other hand, this current administration is more focused on tightening the belts rather than fund raising.

c) Seems to me that if your only problem is lax standards in determining who deserve to pay more and who deserve to pay less, then there’s no problem with increasing tuition fees for those who can pay more. All you need now is a better system in spotting who are rich and who are poor.

That being said, although I do personally object to the increase (I don’t want to pay more than I already do), in principle the idea is sound. People who CAN afford to pay more SHOULD pay more. That is, if the conditions keep the university from acquiring funds through some other means.

Also, the whole state abandonment of education argument is old, tired, cliched and doesn’t do anything to contribute to the debate. It frames the issue inaccurately. Do you really think that there will come a time that the government will spend ZERO pesos on education? Does the non-funding of tertiary education mean that the state is abandoning education? It didn’t work 5 years ago and it’s not working now.

Instead of always whining about “state abandonment”, why not demand that the university create more fund raising initiatives? Why not organize fund raising initiatives for the university? Surely you realize that even if the entire budget was allotted for education, it’s not going to help the country if we can’t pay our debts, the soldiers revolt while the NPA and the MILF/MNLF/ASG take over Mindanao and infrastructure goes into disarray?

please refer to this earlier discussion

a.) why are you pitting primary and secondary education against tertiary education? you are presupposing that whatever tertiary education gets, primary and secondary education loses. that has no basis.

b.) true, for any other prestigious university. but UP is a state university. donations are welcome, but if it leads the government to think that it can neglect its duty to us…

c.) the further discussion of socialized tuition is irrelevant.

d.) state abandonment is not tired, old and cliched. it is a reality that government is forcing its state universities to make do with small budgets and either accept less students or increase tuitions and beg for private money. its embodied in a CHED memorandum and in the government’s higher education ‘development’ plan.

a.) primary and secondary education is basic. functional literacy is a prerequisite of a functional society. as opposed to tertiary education, a pursuit for personal and individualistic gains. that’s why other models of education in developed countries still have our old “study-now-pay-later” programs.

b.) the commercialization rhetoric from activists is something I REALLY DON’T GET. the reason why the eng’g programme of UP is the best in the country is because it allows MNCs to enhance educational environments. of course, they’ll want people to work to their advantage, but these are also students who eventually get employed in these companies and the labs that were donated end up in the public collection of the university.

c.) i don’t understand why socialized tuition is irrelevant when it’s the best compromising situation.

d.) in case you didn’t notice the general appropriations bill, state universities’ budget have twice the number of pages compared to the entire public education sector’s budget. tell me now how the government is “abandoning” the state universities.

thats not the commercialization activists point out, silly.

socialized tuition is irrelevant exactly because we are against the actual increase. why talk about socialized tuition if the call is for the non-increase in the first place?

you disappoint me celeni, i didnt expect your ’sophistication’ to reach a conclusion based on the number of pages in the general appropriations bill. hello? there are more pages to the state universities’ budget because each of the hundred or so state universities has to be specified together with the allotment for each, whereas it is deemed unnecessary to specify each and every one of the tens of thousands of public elementary and high schools being funded by the education department. and if you didnt get what i previously said, “state abandonment is not tired, old and cliched. it is a reality that government is forcing its state universities to make do with small budgets and either accept less students or increase tuitions and beg for private money. its embodied in a CHED memorandum and in the government’s higher education ‘development’ plan.“

a.) why are you pitting primary and secondary education against tertiary education? you are presupposing that whatever tertiary education gets, primary and secondary education loses. that has no basis.

I’m presupposing that because there are only so many eggs in the basket, unless you can suddenly persuade the government to stop funding the military or stop paying our debts or doing any other form or allocation that would result to US getting more money, that’s going to happen. Either way, it’s highly unlikely. Either way, you’re going to have to get that money from somewhere. Hindi lang inuutot ang pera.

You’re framing the debate as if it’s an “education is being persecuted” issue when in fact, it’s really a “tertiary education is being deprioritized” issue.

b.) true, for any other prestigious university. but UP is a state university. donations are welcome, but if it leads the government to think that it can neglect its duty to us…

And what’s the yardstick for support and/or abandonment? If the government gave you P10 and now decides that it can only afford to give you P5, does that mean the government is abandoning you already? No. Besides, if the government DOES get its hands on some extra cash, don’t you think it’s more prudent to spend it on primary and secondary education or other necessities rather than in tertiary education when CLEARLY we can get our money elsewhere?

c.) the further discussion of socialized tuition is irrelevant.

So you are against the university getting more money? Because we sure as hell aren’t going to get more money from the government.

d.) state abandonment is not tired, old and cliched. it is a reality that government is forcing its state universities to make do with small budgets and either accept less students or increase tuitions and beg for private money. its embodied in a CHED memorandum and in the government’s higher education ‘development’ plan.

It’s tired, old, and cliched because it doesn’t do anything to solve the problem. Everyone demanding that the government increase funding for the university sounds more like a spoiled child asking their poverty-stricken parents for a PC. You know that we can’t afford it and yet you keep on pressing it as if it’s a pressing obligation. Like I said, would you rather that the government that is flush with cash spend it on tertiary education when primary and secondary education clearly need it more? Asking tertiary level educators to look for other sources of funding is a sensible and reasonable option for it to take.

Hundreds of colleges and universities (especially the prestigious ones, including STATE ones), are primarily depending on private donors for their primary source of income. Pray tell, why shouldn’t THAT be a model that the university should follow?

In other words, why shouldn’t a lucrative, sustainable form of funding be the focus of all your activist efforts when clearly (as it’s not like the government stopped ALL funding for education, or even stopped funding for tertiary education) there is no “state abandonment of education”??

If the government gave you P10 and now decides that it can only afford to give you P5, does that mean the government is abandoning you already?

If the government gave you P10 three years ago then gave you P8 the next year then P7 last year then P5 this year, does it mean it is abandoning you already? Hm, well. I guess not…..

This is how I see it, you’re working on the assumption that there is not enough money for primary, secondary and tertiary education. You’re also assuming that deprioritization of tertiary education equates to higher subsidies for the primary and secondary, and vice versa. you know, it’s just as likely that it is getting it from say, the DENR’s share. it’s just most convenient for your line of reasoning to say elementary schools, high schools and state universities are the only ones fighting for their share of the pie. just as it is likely that deprioritization of tertiary education leads to better funding for basic education, it’s just as likely that it might be used for funding more corruption, see.

The question is, is there really not enough money for social services like state tertiary education? I don’t know. What I know is, government spends billions on pork barrel allocations, unaudited intelligence funds, and billions are lost in corruption.

Using your child-parent model. Do you think it is fair for a kid to work for food himself because his father claims they don’t have enough money to buy food? But then, you see that your father is a habitual gambler and a drunkard? I say it’s not fair. The way I see it, you say there’s nothing the kid can do about it so he better work his ass off.

NOTICE: THERE IS A PARALLEL AND LONGER DISCUSSION HERE. Unless your comment is a reply to any of the previous comments above, please redirect your comment and enrich the discussion there.

Yes. There’s really nothing the kid can do about it but work his ass off.

Do you really expect the country to suddenly be corruption free? Even the most advanced and developed democratic societies have their own corruption, have their own cases of embezzlement, have their own problems. Our own neighbors are also knee deep in corruption. Why is it that their universities are better off?

That’s because they don’t depend on the immature politics of their own governments for their funding. They don’t rely on inconsistent, corrupt, incompetent politicians.

And your right. We don’t have to take money from primary and secondary. Then again, we’re inevitably going to be taking from other parts of the budget that we need JUST AS MUCH. What’s going to happen to infrastructure? What’s going to happen to the security? What’s going to happen to welfare and job creation? What’s going to happen to agriculture?

Why should the government focus all its efforts (and its budget) on tertiary education that only 3% (according to Monsod) of the population actually take part in?

Take our annual budget, account for the millions or billions of money embezzled by our politicians (because really, corruption is a separate issue). Every decrease in the budget allocation might be bad for us, but you know what? It might just help other sectors in society, EVEN taking corruption into account. If you take P10 away and P9 pesos is corrupted, that’s still extra P1 you can spend on other social services. But this is already beside the point. The point is, we shouldn’t depend so much on the government for our funding.

We have to move to a system that actually makes government funding less critical for our basic needs as an institution. That doesn’t allow the government to cut off funding entirely because there still has to be an obligation from the government to the university, but it does allow for the government to give more to other sectors. Not JUST primary and secondary education.

Why should the government focus all its efforts (and its budget) on tertiary education that only 3% (according to Monsod) of the population actually take part in?

exactly the reason why more government effort must be put in it.

That’s because they don’t depend on the immature politics of their own governments for their funding. They don’t rely on inconsistent, corrupt, incompetent politicians.

it’s because they can afford not to depend on their government.

going back to your child-parent model, i still say the child (the university) insist on his demands for his father’s (government) obligations to him and to all his children (other social services) for that matter. if you wish to be defeatist and passive about his being a drunkard among all his other bad habits, that’s probably where our views depart brother.

There is lack of funds and the University is simply trying to make up for it’s losses. If UP were a poor man’s university - and yes, I know a lot of tibaks who say that the rich/un-poor shouldnt study in UP — it would be more sensible to ask for a higher budget. But clearly, that’s not the case. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. UP has definitely morphed into an institution that caters to more people who could afford increases in tuition.

exactly the reason why more government effort must be put in it.

You misunderstand. The issue here isn’t being able to get more people to go to university, the issue here is why spend so much more for a select group of people.

You have to understand, college students, in a sense, are a minority. And although it would be better if there were more people going to college, that isn’t the case. As such, there are more people out there that need the money more so than we do. Why should the government focus its efforts on a privileged few?

it’s because they can afford not to depend on their government.

And why can they afford not to depend on their government? Because of outside funding, that’s why. Apply the same model to the university, we won’t have to depend on our government as well.

There’s nothing wrong with insisting that the wrongs should be righted. The government should encourage education. The government should do all sorts of wonderful things. The problem arises when that’s the only thing you do, that is, whine. Instead of just insisting, why don’t they pay attention to ALTERNATIVES? There is no reason why it has to be mutually exclusive.

As it is, you people stop short of actually doing something and focus your efforts on insisting and insisting and insisting something that may or may not happen. Meanwhile, no one is better off.

There’s a difference between being a realist and being a defeatist. I’m a realist. I recognize that corruption is an altogether different issue that we need to address. And if or when we do address it, we won’t have that much of a problem. But we do have corruption, not just any kind of corruption, but protracted corruption. In which case, I’d rather we do something about the situation OTHER than complaining about the corruption. It’s certainly better than being an ignorant idealist.

why spend so much more for a select group of people. Why should the government focus its efforts on a privileged few?

because it is an investment duty of the government. why do you insist that the call on putting more effort on tertiary education is at the sake of other social services? its not a call just to “focus on tertiary education” but rather a demand to defocus on things such as bureaucratic corruption and whatnot.

And why can they afford not to depend on their government? Because of outside funding, that’s why.

because unlike the philippines, majority of them don’t live on less than a dollar or two a day. I’m not against outside funding, david. what I am against is passing the burden of funding to the students themselves.

There’s nothing wrong with insisting that the wrongs should be righted. The problem arises when that’s the only thing you do, that is, whine. Instead of just insisting, why don’t they pay attention to ALTERNATIVES? There is no reason why it has to be mutually exclusive.

the acceptance of higher tuition defeats the call for higher state subsidy.

As it is, you people stop short of actually doing something and focus your efforts on insisting and insisting and insisting something that may or may not happen. Meanwhile, no one is better off.

when thousands of UP students protested against budget cut in 2000, the cut was reduced.

There’s a difference between being a realist and being a defeatist. I’m a realist. I recognize that corruption is an altogether different issue that we need to address. And if or when we do address it, we won’t have that much of a problem. But we do have corruption, not just any kind of corruption, but protracted corruption. In which case, I’d rather we do something about the situation OTHER than complaining about the corruption. It’s certainly better than being an ignorant idealist.

how do you deal and what do you do with corruption and other bureaucratic wrongdoings david?

Yes. There’s really nothing the kid can do about it but work his ass off.

this is defeatist.

The analogy of the kid is realistic. It’s true that kids have to be on their own feet when their parents are… inadequate.

The realistic point of view is simple: yes, you don’t want corruption to prevail because corruption is a social cost with no benefits. But given that corruption is a current constant, what do you do about it and the sub-problems it created? The simultaneous nature of the problems should be dealt with accordingly. A tuition increase in UP, means a fund increase in UP. The analogy extension is this: if a family is merely getting by with the basics, even children have to work so that they could accrue certain privileges (para matulungan si nanay at tatay). The leap of logic on your side is this: just because tuition and fees increase in UP, it doesn’t mean they’ll cut the subsidies of the entire educational/social service sector.

It’s also a matter of the viability of the alternatives in UP. The fact is, it’s more viable to get private funding for university students (especially as prestigious/accomplished as UP students) than to get alternative funding for a poor six-year-old child living in the slums of Tawi-Tawi. For the six-year-old child, it’s completely dependent on government and philanthropic institutions for him/her to uplift his/her welfare. As opposed to the minority of university students who’s majority have parents with the ability to pay, and corporate interests running parallel to the students’ objectives (to get a university degree).

So in short, given that corruption is constant, you can’t wait until corruption is solved before addressing funding issues of the university. That would simply deny more people from the education they deserve.

because it is an investment duty of the government. why do you insist that the call on putting more effort on tertiary education is at the sake of other social services? its not a call just to “focus on tertiary education” but rather a demand to defocus on things such as bureaucratic corruption and whatnot.

Pray tell, what is this “whatnot” that you want to defocus on?

As for bureaucratic corruption, the problem with you is that you see corruption as if it was a national policy instead of a criminal act that certain individuals are up to. Corruption isn’t a choice that government can control. It’s not something on the national budget that the government can just cross out. It can discourage it, it can penalize people caught doing it, but it cannot just decide one day that, ‘hey let’s not be corrupt anymore’.

The last thing you want to do about that is just scream at the top of your lungs that Corruption is a Very Bad Thing™. Why? Because that’s just truistic, and it doesn’t do anything to solve the problem.

Demanding that the government do something about the corruption is just as ridiculous. It’s just as truistic, and it’s just as unproductive. It will all still depend on the political will of the politicians.

And we all know how strong that political will is, don’t we?

The best thing you can do about corruption is minimize it. The only way you can minimize it is to catch the people who are being corrupt, and make them accountable. Give them no choice BUT to deal with the corruption.

And you don’t do that simply by nagging.

In any case, like I said, corruption is a different issue altogether. Without corruption, we wouldn’t have this problem. But we do. So now, what do we do about it?

When you’re demanding that they increase the funding for tertiary education, what do you think the politicans will do? Get the money out of their own (ill-gotten) wealth? Are you THAT naive?

That’s why it’s problematic to frame this as if it was a Tertiary Education vs. Corruption issue. Because it’s not. It’s a Tertiary Education vs. Other Social Needs issue. Because this entire country is all about Tertiary Education + Other Social Needs vs. Corruption. You take away corruption, you won’t have a conflict. But as long as it’s there, there will always be a fight regarding who gets a bigger share of what’s left of the pie.

because unlike the philippines, majority of them don’t live on less than a dollar or two a day. I’m not against outside funding, david. what I am against is passing the burden of funding to the students themselves.

Not true. Thailand is just as much fo a third world country as we are, they use the same model and don’t have that big of a problem as we do. Indonesia, Malaysia, just as well. If what you’re saying is true, shouldn’t we be close to equal with other third world countries in terms of education? We’re not.

And at least we agree on one thing. I don’t want to pass it on to the students as well. But MY model doesn’t rely on the government to achieve that goal.

because alternatives often defeat the call that is insisted. the acceptance of higher tuition defeats the call for higher state subsidy.

There’s the rub. If the alternatives remove the necessity for higher state subsidy, why call for higher state subsidy when we’re better off already with fund-raising? It doesn’t raise the tuition rates, it gets us money. What more do you want?

What I think you need to realize is that there is an upper limit to the obligations of the government when it comes to support for tertiary education. It needs to support it inasmuch as it recognizes the value of tertiary education in the country. It shouldn’t support it to the length that it overrides all the other needs of the country.

how do you deal and what do you do with corruption and other bureaucratic wrongdoings david?

this is defeatist.

I’d argue that isn’t defeatist. That’s lateral thinking at work. Beat the system by not playing by it’s cat & mouse rules. Deal with YOUR problems by yourself in ANOTHER way and THEN deal with the problems of the government.

After all, in a system where the government can’t do anything to STOP the education of it’s people, How can the government prevent the people from making them accountable for the corruption?

And as I said in a previous reply that you conveniently forgot,

Correct me if I’m wrong, but you need only look a few years back at the term of Dodong Nemenzo to realize what the current administration is doing wrong.

We had a lot of improvements during Nemenzo’s term as president and YET there was no increase in tuition. In his term, Wi-Fi access became available to most libraries on campus. Previously unfinished construction projects were completed. The development of unused lands were done as well.

All this without a tuition increase. All this because of the fund raising efforts of Nemenzo.

This current administration, on the other hand, has done very little in terms of actual fund raising. Instead, it chooses to pass the costs to the students.

This is why I think that fund raising is a better solution than marching on the the streets to Malacanang.

CELENI:

just because tuition and fees increase in UP, it doesn’t mean they’ll cut the subsidies

This is what I told David, who had a similar point. “If the government gave you P10 three years ago then gave you P8 the next year then P7 last year then P5 this year, doesn’t it mean it is abandoning (on its way to abandoning) you already?”

it’s more viable to get private funding for university students

Go ahead and beg for donations. I am against passing the burden to students themselves because of state negligence or the university administration’s failure in exhausting all possible alternatives.

As opposed to the minority of university students who’s majority have parents with the ability to pay

Back up that sweeping statement in light of social indicators that say that a great majority of Filipinos are poor.

DAVID:

If the alternatives remove the necessity for higher state subsidy, why call for higher state subsidy when we’re better off already with fund-raising?

The alternative I was referring to is the alternative of the current UP administration — Tuition and Other Fee Increases. “The acceptance of higher tuition defeats the call for higher state subsidy.” Fund-raising, on the other hand, though it is welcome, is not constant, and yet it may lead the government to think UP can stand on its own feet. What if there came lack of donors?

The only way you can minimize it [corruption] is to catch the people who are being corrupt, and make them accountable. Give them no choice BUT to deal with the corruption.

Exactly. this is what you called “whining”. It isn’t mutually exclusive to “demanding that the government do something about the corruption”.

All this without a tuition increase. All this because of the fund raising efforts of Nemenzo…. This current administration, on the other hand, has done very little in terms of actual fund raising. Instead, it chooses to pass the costs to the students. I don’t want to pass it on to the students as well.

what are we arguing about then?
ah, yes. I say UP insist on being state-reliant and demand what is due her. you say otherwise. also, to add to your nemenzo recall, it was also during nemenzo’s term when the administration, under his leadership, joined collective efforts of students in a mendiola march that led to a reduction in UP’s budget cut. That was also an option the current UP administration refused to choose.

Exactly. this is what you called “whining”. It isn’t mutually exclusive to “demanding that the government do something about the corruption”.

Whining doesn’t do anything. It still relies on the Politicians to do something about it. Sometimes it works (like in the reduction to the budget cut), MOST OF THE TIME, it doesn’t. Not to mention, the tendency for it NOT to work becomes higher the more you march and rally and cut classes to its saturation point. Nobody listens to a nagger, do they?

What I mean by giving them no choice but to deal with the corruption is this: Have the watchdogs BE the watchdogs that they’re supposed to be. Collect information, evidence that can be used to prove corruption. FIND THE SMOKING GUN. Make sure that they are held accountable by ensuring that there are international witness to the events.

This is the reason that people who are arrested for corruption aren’t held accountable, they’re just forgotten. People don’t make the effort to ensure that everything follows through to the proper conclusion. You only need to look at the poor state of our law enforcement, as well as our media (especially the journalists) to find out why.

Easier said than done I know. But that is more realistic than simply screaming “STOP CORRUPTION” day in and day out.

ah, yes. I say UP insist on being state-reliant and demand what is due her. you say otherwise.

Pray tell, what EXACTLY is due her?

Is the University due P40 million pesos? P50 million? P60 million?

Who gets to decide what exactly is due to the university?

What I’m saying is that what is “due her” is simply governmental support. It doesn’t have to be a lot (because like I said, there are other needs that must be addressed), but there has to be some form of support. This means that the university SHOULDN’T be state-reliant, especially since the state isn’t as reliable (due to corruption) as you make it out to be.

And yes, private funding IS more reliable than government subsidy. At the very least, the last few years have shown us that there is no shortage of people willing to donate to the university.

I don’t understand your contempt against airing of grievances. do you honestly think ordinary people can just go into a sherlock spree and investigate govt officials? and that only addresses the corruption issue. what about other legitimate demands and grievances? lobbying? manifestos? petitions? media propaganda? it’s not as if your abhorred tibaks don’t do that. they do. but mass demonstrations remain to be the most effective way for ordinary citizens to ask their government what is due its people.

like what i’ve mentioned, in 2000, UP was able to show force by the thousands who marched in mendiola, with support of the UP admin. the result was a reduction in the budget cut. there is nothing wrong with “nagging” especially when demands have not been met. tibaks aren’t defeatists, see. The reason why there is an apparent non-effect with most demonstrations nowadays is that organizers fail to attract critical numbers to be present in rallies. why? One reason may be a prevailing defeatist mindset like yours. but to call it non-effective is also untrue. the presence of a constant opposition, constant watchdogs guarantee that policymakers will be careful in making policies and other such decisions. and for that I am thankful to hardcore activists who make the calls and fight the fight while people like you and me are busy with blogging and studying and other such bourgeoisie affairs.

But that is more realistic than simply screaming “STOP CORRUPTION” day in and day out.

find me someone who does scream “STOP CORRUPTION!” in the streets.

What I’m saying is that what is “due her” is simply governmental support. It doesn’t have to be a lot (because like I said, there are other needs that must be addressed)

what is due her is what she asks for. or at the very least, enough to makes her ends meet without putting the burden on the students–which is what’s going to happen. there is no direct connection between a UP budget cut and an increase another social service. The UP budget, by the way, is not only a budget for tertiary education, because it also includes the finances of the Philippine General Hospital.

How many times do I have to tell you that abandonment of the state won’t incur because that’s just political suicide. Students and their parents are voters too in case you’ve noticed.

Back to the idea of the Filipino tertiary students having the ability to pay. We can dismiss the fact that a majority of the Filipino people are at the poverty line, because that demography isn’t fully reflected in the state universities! How hard is that to understand?

At the end of the day, I think efforts towards alternatives to state-subsidy should be put on a premium for the sustainability of the University. When you think about it, the less dependency we have on government, the more leverage we have to criticise them. Refer to Raul Gonzales’s shit comments about our school (government-subsidised schools have no right to criticise the gov’t), it’s the best rebuttal against it.

“mass demonstrations remain to be the most effective way for ordinary citizens to ask their government what is due its people.”

Are you kidding me?

Your one and only example happend SIX YEARS AGO. Given the fact that not one year goes by where Stand-UP and all other related tibaks don’t go to Mendiola or Congress for one reason or another MULTIPLE times, you pretty much have a success rate that’s slim to NONE.

And why is that? It’s because the MORE you use mass demonstrations as your first and ONLY resort for effecting change, the more government and the people will have “rallying fatigue”. Mass demonstrations just begin to sound too much like the random noise that shouldn’t even be noticed, let alone listened to because it has reached the saturation point.

You know the story of the boy who cried wolf? That’s the story of Stand-UP. Always rallying, always demonstrating for the pettiest of things (such as this, and also such as the Collegian brouhaha) when in fact there are pressing issues that could use that support.

The problem is, if or when there IS a real cause to fight for (such as the journalist killings for example) they’re no longer paid attention to, precisely because it’s just the same noise, same rhetoric you people use over and over and over again.

What have you guys done to cry against the kidnappings of the UP students? Did you help their parents? Did you investigate? Did you look for witnesses? When was the last time you held a mass demonstration for these people?

Seems to me that one’s the issue is no longer ‘hot’ all you guys just fade away, waiting for the next topic to arise.

This is why I have contempt for your so-called “hard-core activists”. They barely do anything and they excuse themselves from doing so (extending their stay in college and FURTHER wasting the people’s money by the way) because of some petty “principle”.

More to the point, the reason why there are no critical numbers joining your mass demonstrations is simply because a) Stand-UP has already exposed themselves multiple times to be JUST AS CORRUPT as the people they’re supposedly fighting against, b) what you’re fighting against, more often than not, is your own petty agenda.

what is due her is what she asks for. or at the very least, enough to makes her ends meet without putting the burden on the students–which is what’s going to happen

1. By that principle, if you ask your parents for a PS3, they should give you a PS3 because that is what is ‘due you’?
2. What happens if the government can’t afford to make ends meet? Especially considering that there ARE government services that need the money more than we do?

There IS a direct correlation between a UP budget cut and an increase. You only need to look at the national budget. Like I said, there governmental corruption isn’t a national policy that you can allocate for in the national budget. The money HAS to go somewhere else first before someone plunders some of it away.

More to the point, the basic assumption that you’re making is that a cut in the budget is automatically passed off to the students, which is ridiculous to say the least. Your example of the reduced budget cut in 2000 WITHOUT any rise in tuition fee already proves that a budget cut does not necessarily result into a tuition fee increase.

It all boils down to what I’m saying over, and over and over again. The solution to your problem is increased private FUND RAISING. You already conceded that it worked during Nemenzo’s administration. Why not demand that Roman and Cao turn their efforts to that instead?

As it is, it seems to me that you (and the rest of Stand-UP) are more in love with your own rhetoric than any semblance of logical and critical thinking, not to mention practical and realistic solutions. That’s the REAL problem we have here.

correction:
b) what you’re fighting against, more often than not, is your own petty agenda.

should be

b) what you’re fighting FOR, more often than not, is your own petty agenda.

Stand-UP has already exposed themselves multiple times to be JUST AS CORRUPT as the people they’re supposedly fighting against

have you proven it? granting without conceding, there was such an issue, it’s not something institutional. you cant use the misbehavior of a few people, especially when it was in the past, to demonize those who belong to the same ideology today.

what you’re fighting against, more often than not, is your own petty agenda.

..which is??

ONLY resort for effecting change… What have you guys done to cry against the kidnappings of the UP students? Did you help their parents? Did you investigate? Did you look for witnesses? When was the last time you held a mass demonstration for these people? …Seems to me that one’s the issue is no longer ‘hot’ all you guys just fade away, waiting for the next topic to arise.

That is so insulting! They did! They even kept the parents and other witnesses in safe houses near UP, when the parents sought for help and didn’t want to ask the police for it. All while other non-STAND UP parties refused to recognize that their disappearance is state-sponsored.

The reason there is not much apparent noise about it right now is precisely one of your reasons, there is a much pressing issue right now that has to be prioritised, tuition fee increase. that’s the problem with activist critics, they hate them for being “whiny” and when activists do “whine”, they expect them to “whine” about everything. they aren’t super men.

The reason why rhetorics are rhetorics is precisely because little to nothing has changed for the better.

As I see it, you should check up on your bias first and don’t let it affect your “logical and critical thinking” too much eh?

The organization has done and does a lot of other things from donation drives for calamity victims, to lobbying for legislation–which you obviously refuse to recognize for your bias’ convenience.

By that principle, if you ask your parents for a PS3, they should give you a PS3 because that is what is ‘due you’?

That’s where our difference lie. You consider tertiary education a luxury. I consider it a right.

It all boils down to what I’m saying over, and over and over again. The solution to your problem is increased private FUND RAISING.

But the issue is tuition and other fee increases. fund raise all you want! but the issue right now is that the burden will be shifting from the outside to the students themselves.

How many times do I have to tell you that abandonment of the state won’t incur because that’s just political suicide. Students and their parents are voters too in case you’ve noticed.

are you willing to bet on this?

We can dismiss the fact that a majority of the Filipino people are at the poverty line, because that demography isn’t fully reflected in the state universities!

exactly the problem. the demography isn’t fully reflected in UP because tertiary education is increasingly inaccessible to them.

have you proven it? granting without conceding, there was such an issue, it’s not something institutional. you cant use the misbehavior of a few people, especially when it was in the past, to demonize those who belong to the same ideology today.

Refer to the plunder issue of the student regent around 2000-2001. She got money from the government to supposedly renovate Vinzon’s Hall and it never happened.

Refer to the case of the missing computers and other hardware from the Collegian Offices (or was it the USC offices) a few years ago.

Refer to the constant railroading of proposals and policies of non-StandUP representatives and officers in the USC as well as during the conferences with other university councils.

The corruption in Stand-UP isn’t limited to a few “bad eggs”. It’s just as institutionalized as the government’s.

Which makes them all the more hypocrites whenever they initiate a mass demonstration.

The reason there is not much apparent noise about it right now is precisely one of your reasons, there is a much pressing issue right now that has to be prioritised, tuition fee increase. that’s the problem with activist critics, they hate them for being “whiny” and when activists do “whine”, they expect them to “whine” about everything. they aren’t super men.

Pray tell, where are they now?

And I guess it all boils down to what for you is a pressing issue. For me, the pressing issue is the lives of two UP Students. For you, it’s all about the money.

The reason why rhetoric is rhetoric is because there is no bite to your bark. It’s all rallying but no effort to enact concrete change.

As for my “bias”, my bias is simply for what makes sense. Assuming that a cut in the budget automatically means “state abandonment of education” doesn’t make sense. A cut doesn’t equal abandonment. Abandonment is supposed to be complete and total, meaning 0 pesos spent. Education isn’t tertiary education. It’s supposed to be all levels of education. Your assumption of “state abandonment of education” is wrong on two levels.

The problem with you people is you always jump the gun, never really thinking or considering whether or not what you’re fighting against is actually happening.

To make one more metaphor, Stand-UP is Chicken Little, got hit on the head with an acorn and automatically assumes that the sky is falling.

That’s where our difference lie. You consider tertiary education a luxury. I consider it a right.

In a country where more than half of the populace still don’t have a high school degree, can barely finish grade school, and can barely get, much less keep a job, I’d say yes. Tertiary education IS a luxury.

And considering the levels of funding that other governments have for tertiary education in other countries, I’d gather that they agree with that statement. And no, I’m not just talking of the west.

But the issue is tuition and other fee increases. fund raise all you want! but the issue right now is that the burden will be shifting from the outside to the students themselves.

And that’s my point. If you don’t want the burden to shift from the outside to the students themselves, demand that the university increase its fund-raising efforts. Demand that the university do everything in its power (as it should do) not to shift the burden to the students. Demand that the TOFI is going to be the last resort.

That’s the best thing you can do in this situation. The worst thing you can do is precisely what you’re doing right now - demanding that the government stop it’s corrupt practices and move that money down to tertiary education, because that is blind idealism at its best.

The problem with saying “we shall overcome someday” is that the operative word there is “someday”. Meanwhile, where are we going to get the money to live until that someday?

When you have the university primarily reliant on private funding and NOT on government subsidy, you won’t have the burden of costs being shifted to the students themselves. That’s what you want, that’s what I want.

I’ve proven that that can work. Now can you prove to me how you can feasibly convince the politicians to give up their embezzled funds and channel it back to the university through mass demonstrations?

stumbled upon this site through technorati. first off, let me introduce myself, i’m a nursing student from the university of the philippines manila. anyway, i know the tuition fee increase is a hot issue right now, if banners and flyers against it aren’t proof enough, add some protesters going classroom per classroom and disrupting our on-going class. most of the people in the health sciences frankly do not care about the issue. one of the main reasons is they have money, and if they don’t studying goes way above the list and protesting is not one of their priorities.

i’m going to make this short. there are only a few thing i want to point out. first is, if we are not going to pay for our tuition, then who will? for those who can’t pay, there’s the stfap to help. that’s what it’s there for. and if you still can’t afford, then go plant camote in your backyard. the government will of course, not pay for our cause. they are too selfish to ever care for us. unless you kill everyone in the political game, nothing will ever change. they will allocate a lot of out tax money to the “military” sector. god knows why we can’t even buy a decent airplane or a helicopter with that kind of money. simply put, most of those said generals and high-ranking officials are investing in their own pockets, rather than the country’s military front.

only 5% is left for our education, and that 5% will be shared by the public elementary and high school, and of course, the state university. if priority is a concern, i think it’s much better to give the money to supporting the elementary and high school. they can live without college education, but not without the foundation being thought by elementary schools. as for the university of the philippines, most of the students have enough money to pay for their tuition anyway.

our hospital, philippine general hospital, and our buildings are crumbling. diliman looks way better than our campus. even our oblation is crumbling. and yet no one care to pay for the tuition? what do people want? have classes outside when the building evaporates into thin air?

all this hype is not about money. it simply is about the students of university of the philippines and their ego. common, no one would believe a UP medical student who has a mazda 3 if he says that he does not have enough to pay for his tuition. student of UP think way too highly of themselves. they expect the citizens to pay for their education simply because they are smart, the “scholars” of the nation. it seems funny to me when simple stuff such as these are blown out of proportion because of the single-mindedness of humans. why not pay for something that is for yourself anyway? consider it an investment for your future. everyone’s blaming everyone, counting on someone.. why not count on yourselves. face reality, no one will support you. it’s just you and your money.

as for the nursing leakage thing.. for crying out loud.. it did not take me 2 minutes to think of a solution for this: ratake the exams. integrity is what UP nursing stands for. how can we have integrity when anyone could have cheated in the boards? to those who are against this, maybe it is you who cheated. once you pass the boards, you can pass it again. i said it, and i will say it again: nursing is an honest profession.

(this post is not directed to anyone in this discussion, not even the owner of this blog. i was simply ranting out frustrations on people who deserve it, namely: those against the re-take.)

oh and one more thing, i’m not pro-TFI. we simply have no choice but to accept the unevitable. there;s no point raising hell because of it. that will only bring the peso-dollar exchange rate down again. remember that investors hate rallies and terrorism. how can we attract investors to help our dying country when all we do is do the opposite of what they want? this country has been reduced to idolizing sports icons in order to cope with the ineffective government. we NEED those investors.

so yesterday, i got hold of an article written by solita monsod, who was my prof before in my econ class. lol. she detailed how the tuition fee increase was supposed to be rolled out. it seems justified naman. considering that Econ faculty did the ad hoc research regarding this. i dont think these professors would do something stupid in the first place (and im not saying you anyone in this thread did say that, kasi mamaya tarayan mo na naman ako). its rational, fair, justified and progressive. i dont think the research was biased in any way. because these professors want whats best not only for the students but also for the university. and i trust them more than i trust politicians or even UP students who think they know everything, when in fact, soon as they graduate, they soon realize, they wasted their time opposing something that they should have been helping change/improve in the first place. i would never go to UP if these professors are stupid and corrupt in the first place. btw, bikoy, have you read the entire report prepared by the ad hoc committee?

some highlights:

noong 1989, lol, funny how it sounds so historical. UPs per unit rate is Php300, while ateneo and lasalle charge Php329 and Php327 respectively. So that time, sosyal pala tayo. lol. were there rallies din about tuition fees back then?

and it took 17years, bago nagkaroon ng review ng tuition fee. just like our curriculum, it should be reviewed, revised and adjusted so it would reflect the changes in time, culture, economy, everything. pano ba tayo magiging progressive and scientific if our curriculum is based on a 17 year old policiy? 17years. imagine if masscom was not allowed to upgrade its facilities and instead, use the ones from 1989. my oh my.

tapos ngayon, ateneo and lasalle charge Php2,200.00 and Php1,700.00 per unit respectively. tapos sa UP Php300.00

feeling ko naman tama na i-adjust natin yung tuition fee. not because were telling the government to abandon its responsibility sa education , but because we have to be realistic and in check with how education really works.

the proposed tuition fee increase will only affect the students from batch 2007. lahat ng students with 06 and pababa na student number, they will be using the old 300 per unit rates.

Batch07 students whose families annual income is Php 70K or less will have FREE TUITION, plus a monthly stipend of Php 12K. parang mas malaki pa stipend nila sa sweldo ng mga friends ko. lol.

Batch07 students whose families annual income is Php 70,001 - Php 135,000 will have 70% DISCOUNT on their TUITION. which means, the same rate pa rin na Php 300 ang gagamitin nila.

Batch07 students whose families annual income is Php 135,001 - Php 500,000 will have 40% DISCOUNT on their TUITION. Mayaman naman siguro sila. wag na silang madamot. lol. ang kapal naman ng mukha nila kapag nagreklamo pa sila ha. lol. ang feeling ko sila yung mga mayayaman na matalino na pupunta lang sa UP dahil maganda at fabulous sa UP. and of course, primarily because UP is the best. lol.

So IBIG SABIHIN…

Batch07 students whose families annual income is Php 500,001 - Php 1M will have to pay the FULL amount of Php 1,000.00 per unit. HINDI LAHAT NG STUDENTS AY MAGBABAYAD NG Php 1,000.oo /unit. YUNG MGA MILYONARYO LANG. AT AMININ MO ILAN LANG BA ANG PUMUPUNTA NG UP NA MILYONARYO?. most of rich kids go somewhere else.

Then mrs. monsod went on and said “They dont deserve to be subsidized by the Filipino people, and they will not be subsidized.”

Lol. well, a couple of my batchmates sa BA milyonaryo. and they are mabait naman and not mayabang. and definitely not apathetic. gusto lang nila maging productive, kaya you hardly see BA people sa rally rally. lol.

Kaalinsabay kasi ng review ng tuition fee increase ang review ng STFAP. so feeling ko talaga justified at pinagaralan ng mabuti. matalino ang professors ng UP at alam nila ang ginagawa nila. hindi naman sila padalos-dalos na magsasabi na itaas ang tuition fee ng walang rason.

Basta, bago kayo magreklamo that TFI increase will eventually lead to the States abandonment of Education, you should do something about tax collection and the system.

Make sure that everyone in your community pays taxes. And hanggang wala kayong ginagawa about this, then don’t complain. The government cant pay for your education, because theres not enough money they can throw around. Kebs sa corruption, its there because soon after students of UP graduate, they don’t go try working for the government and they don’t educate kids to learn how to vote for the right people. My cousin once said, we deserve the President that we elect. Lol.

Its true that mga graduate ng UP ang nagpapatakbo ng bansa natin, naniniwala ako dun. Pero sino ba ang nagiimplement ng mga policies former Isko’s and Iska’s institutionalize. Im sure from other schools. So deadma. Kaya sa lahat ng mga street demonstration hobbyists, soon after you graduate from UP, work for the government, be good, smart and NOT corrupt, then kapag namatay na yung mga matatanda na corrupt sa Government, im sure, well see more productive and progressive work done by the government kasi youre now in charge.

Im not sure, but I think its been 30 years since all of these street demonstrations started, and where did it take us? Naramdaman ba ng masa ang improvement ng buhay nila? No. Personally, whats happening here sa Pilipinas and sa University, its what I call “disruptive communism.” Hindi sya scientific, progressive and productive.

Why not instead of street demonstrations, you work and study hard, then you outperform stupid and corrupt people sa local government units and government institutions, tapos be good smart and NOT corrupt so one day, you actually lead these institutions yourselves. Then, the rest, instead sa streets, go back to the provinces and bring there the idealism and vigor and smarts that you developed sa University. Teach students sa barrios ninyo. Make them smart and want to progressively and productively change this country. And of course, how to vote wisely. Lol.

Im sure, if for 30 years you stop street demonstrations and instead help in the elimination of mga corrupt sa government not through armed struggle (kasi alam ko naman na masama pumatay. Remember before? I asked you and you said you wouldn’t shoot someone in the head just so you can end corruption.) and instead by outshining them (how theatrical, lol.) through being smart and perfect sa job, then I guess, well achieve more than what you think you have done in the 30 years of street demonstrations.

Celeni, I like you so much. Omg, im going straight. Hahahahahahahah!

Btw people, most of you might have noticed, im not really articulate, so I guess some of my points got lost in translation. hahaha! Oh, have you seen that movie? =P

ps.
i really dunno how html shi* works. how do i do the blockquote thing again? lol.

Refer to the plunder issue of the student regent around 2000-2001…. Refer to the case of the missing computers and other hardware from the Collegian Offices (or was it the USC offices) a few years ago…. Refer to the constant railroading of proposals and policies of non-StandUP representatives and officers in the USC as well as during the conferences with other university councils.

the last one’s not even a corruption issue. what’s with your two past examples? you’re not even sure about the details on the second one. you choose to use these few examples of misbehavior to conveniently demonize the entire organization and its members. let me repeat what you previously said, “Are you kidding me? Your one and only example happened six years ago!”

Pray tell, where are they now?

ano ka ba, may mga pamilya, pag-aaral at trabaho din sila. hindi sila sa kalsada nabubuhay. you frame the entire stand up organization to be hardcore street dwelling corrupt activists who do nothing else but shout in the streets. im as burgis as i can get and i barely go to demonstrations and yet i choose to be in and support this party because i believe in it.

but this is already your way of attacking the messenger instead of the message. going back…

A cut doesn’t equal abandonment.

consistent and consecutive cuts do. the govt might bring down the budget to one peso and you won’t even call it abandonment yet.

The problem with saying “we shall overcome someday” is that the operative word there is “someday”. Meanwhile, where are we going to get the money to live until that someday?

meanwhile, you, as a student, beg all you want. encourage other students to beg from companies as well. i don’t know how you can actually do that, but if thats more feasible and realistic for you, right? who’s stopping you? im simply for demanding more government support for UP, for state universities and for education in general. through a multi-faceted campaign, which includes your much abhorred street demonstrations. campaigns don’t work overnight you know.

you’re also not in favor of passing the burden on students naman pala, i don’t get why you’re raising hell about how other people campaign against it. if you don’t think it’s gonna work, then ignore it.

Then mrs. monsod went on and said “They dont deserve to be subsidized by the Filipino people, and they will not be subsidized.”

Hm, David has a rebuttal for that in his blog.

Why not instead of street demonstrations, you work and study hard

sa pag-aaral nga nakikita ang mga kamalian sa lipunan di ba. tunganga na lang tayo.

you should do something about tax collection and the system.

ano maisu-suggest mo, aside from demonstrations, na maaring gawin ng isang ordinaryong estudyante para magawa yan?

investors hate rallies and terrorism.

yes, call everyone who went in the numerous edsa demonstrations terrorists.

let me see if my html works. if not, sorry na lang. lol.

sa pag-aaral nga nakikita ang mga kamalian sa lipunan di ba. tunganga na lang tayo.

so mas pipiliin mo na tumunganga kaysa magisip ng ibang productive na paraan para solusyunan ang problema? kung lahat ng doktor sa pilipinas, ganyan ang pananaw sa mga taong may sakit, tumunganga na lang at hindi magisip ng ibang paraan para solusyunan ang sakit, siguro masasagot ang population issues ng bansang ito. i miss House and how his team would actually not just make tunganga and instead think of remedies for his patients. ang street demonstration kasi ay napakadaling gawin, pero hindi naman ang tamang solusyon sa suliranin. MADALI pero HINDI TAMA. parang pag gutom ka tapos di ka marunong magluto, itulog mo na lang. madaling solusyon sa gutom, pero tama ba? hindi. productive ba? hindi. eh kung nagaral ka magluto? diba? the same thing with street demonstrations and the problems of this country. You dont simply solve budget cuts for education by street demonstrations, kaya nga ikaw mismo, you barely go to street demonstrations kasi, you dont believe that these demonstrations solve these problems at all. at kung consistent na merong budget cut, ibig sabihin nun hindi gradual abandonment, kungdi consistent na merong mas mahalagang allocation lang for money of the government.

ano maisu-suggest mo, aside from demonstrations, na maaring gawin ng isang ordinaryong estudyante para magawa yan?

honestly bikoy, you cant think of other ways an ordinary student can do to help improve tax collection and our government system? or mas convenient lang talaga for people to text everyone and ask them to go to the street. im pretty sure demonstrations wont improve tax collections. may mga ideas ako. una, make an internal audit ng family mo. mas madaling magtanongtanong sa pamilya mo (tito, tita, pinsan, pamangkin) kung nagbabayad ba sila ng buwis. tapos kapag nalaman mo na hindi sila nagbabayad ng tamang buwis, isumbong mo sa BIR. or baka naman may pinoprotektahan din kayo sa pamilya nyo (walang akong sinasabi na family mo bikoy. mamaya tarayan mo na naman ako). pangalawa, magumpisa kayo sa university ng campaign for tax identification number. sana lahat bago grumaduate sa UP merong tin number. make having a TIN number cool. do a series of concert to promote the relevance of tin and why it is a tool to help the country collect money from you. alam mo ba na meron kang community tax na dapat binabayaran? nagbayad ka na ba? lol. pangatlo, since film student ka, why not do a documentary or parang invertigative journalism stint, find out who among your local government units are corrupt. tapos make a film fest about corruption. entries are all about documentaries of how your local officials are corrupt. tapos every year nyo sya gawin. fourth, legislation. produce documents na pwedeng gamitin ng matitinong congressman para makagawa ng bills to strengthen the tax collection of this country. fifth, internship. start a campaign allowing UP students and providing them opportunities to do internships sa government institutions. there, they can easier see how the government works and properly document what improvements can be done. kasi alam mo naman pag matanda na, akala nila alam na nila ang lahat ng sagot sa mundo. malay mo dito pa magsimula ang new sense of nationalism among the students of UP. oh my god bikoy, taga-UP tayo, dont tell me wala talaga kayong ibang maisip maliban sa street demonstration. boring at hindi productive ang street demonstration. kita mo yan, five minutes pa lang ako dito, may lima na agad akong naisip na ideas on how you can make a difference? ano pa kaya kung ikaw at ang mga peers mo actually spend a whole day to think of what else you can do for this country. blogs are powerful. valedictorian ka naman at mukhang impressive and CV mo, im really wondering why you and your peers cant come up with other productive things to solve problems of this country.

isa pang dahilan kung bakit naiinis din ako sa tactics ng mga rallyists, dahil sa mga vandals nila. kapag nakikita ko ang vandals nila, i cant avoid but roll my eyes at these writings sa overpass. kasi ako nagbabayad ako ng buwis at part ng buwis na binabayad ko ginagastos ng local government para i-repaint ang overpass dahil puno ng vandalism. yan, mga ganyang bagay ang nagsasayang sa buwis na ibinabayad ko. pwede, sa mga vandals na nagbabasa ng post ko na ito, eto lang ang masasabi ko… NINANAKAW MO ANG PERA KO. BINAYAD KO ANG BUWIS KO PARA PAARALIN ANG MGA PUBLIC STUDENTS SA MINDORO. HINDI PARA I-REPAINT ANG OVERPASS SA PHILCOA DAHIL NAG-ENJOY KA SA PAG SPRAY PAINT DUN. BAKIT? AKALA MO BA MASUSULUSYUNAN NG SPRAY PAINT ANG PROBLEMA NG BANSANG ITO? NAKADAGDAG KA LANG SA GLOBAL WARMING DAHIL SA CFCs NG SPRAY PAINT MO. sana maisip mo ang mga taong namatay dahil sa global warming.

**tungkol sa USC at corruption. corrupt talaga ang USC. imagine, sa lahat na lang ng USC night during UP fair na napuntahan ko, lagi na lang stamp ang ginagamit. walang ticket. kung meron man, ubos na. alam naman natin na when you produce tickets for events, you always make sure na you produce more than you need, kasi this is the only way how you can monitor ticket sales. why the disregard for this need? so how can you account for all the money that came in from sales? ang mas malaking tanong, saan napupunta ang mga pera na hindi accounted for. interesting…

so mas pipiliin mo na tumunganga kaysa magisip ng ibang productive na paraan para solusyunan ang problema?

uh, i meant that sarcastically. hindi ba nakatunganga ang mga taong forever na lang nag-iisip at nang-aaway ng aktibista?

honestly bikoy, you cant think of other ways an ordinary student can do to help improve tax collection and our government system? …im pretty sure demonstrations wont improve tax collections. may mga ideas ako. una, make an internal audit ng family mo. pangalawa, magumpisa kayo sa university ng campaign for tax identification number. why not do a documentary or parang invertigative journalism stint, find out who among your local government units are corrupt. tapos make a film fest about corruption. fourth, legislation. produce documents na pwedeng gamitin ng matitinong congressman para makagawa ng bills to strengthen the tax collection of this country. fifth, internship. start a campaign allowing UP students and providing them opportunities to do internships sa government institutions. im really wondering why you and your peers cant come up with other productive things to solve problems of this country.

unang una, ginagawa mong napaka-simplistic ang buong problema. tapos ginamit mo pa ang issue ng tax collection. may nagrarally ba talaga for the improvement of tax collection?? saka, it’s not as if hindi ginagawa ng mga kinamumuhian mong aktibista ang iba’t ibang bagay para tumulong sa lipunan nila, kabilang na ang ilan sa mga nabanggit mo. it just so happens na ang tanging nakikita mo ay ang street demonstrations na hindi ka naman sinasaktan o anuman.

isa pang dahilan kung bakit naiinis din ako sa tactics ng mga rallyists, dahil sa mga vandals nila. kapag nakikita ko ang vandals nila, i cant avoid but roll my eyes at these writings sa overpass. kasi ako nagbabayad ako ng buwis at part ng buwis na binabayad ko ginagastos ng local government para i-repaint ang overpass dahil puno ng vandalism. yan, mga ganyang bagay ang nagsasayang sa buwis na ibinabayad ko.

sa napakaraming maaaring ikagalit sa pagnanakaw sa gobyerno, ito ang pinipili mo? kung dito galit ka na, siguro nagka-heart attack ka na sa bilyong bilyong winaldas sa iba’t ibang scam ng gobyerno ngayon ano? kung sa spray paint nagagalit ka, sana nagagalit ka rin sa mga pabrika at sa mga babaeng gumagamit ng hairnet. and these vandals arent even the work of STAND-UP as an organization.

pero hindi, because you let your bias get the best of you.

**tungkol sa USC at corruption. corrupt talaga ang USC. imagine, sa lahat na lang ng USC night during UP fair na napuntahan ko, lagi na lang stamp ang ginagamit. walang ticket. kung meron man, ubos na. alam naman natin na when you produce tickets for events, you always make sure na you produce more than you need, kasi this is the only way how you can monitor ticket sales. why the disregard for this need? so how can you account for all the money that came in from sales? ang mas malaking tanong, saan napupunta ang mga pera na hindi accounted for. interesting…

hindi mo ba binabasa ang audit reports ng USC? lumalabas sya sa collegian. pwede mo syang hingin sa opisina ng USC. and for you information, concerts in the UP fair are managed by orgs, sororities and fraternities that bid for them. at saka hindi STAND-UP ang USC noong 2004, noong nasa UP ka pa.

also, please stick to topic.