We have proven, time and again, that our democratic rights are not and will never be offered generously on silver platters; rather they are products of our assertions through collective and militant struggle. We have also proven that victories do not happen overnight; they are fought for intensely and tirelessly through sustained campaigns and actions.

In the midst of the heightening clamor for genuine economic reforms amidst the worsening economic crisis felt by the Filipino people, we have been steadfast in pursuing policy changes to ensure that every Filipino student is given the chance to enjoy the quality education of UP and that every UP student is given the opportunity to flourish as a true iskolar ng bayan.

Since the beginning of this semester, the campaign to reclaim students’ democratic rights, spearheaded by the UMAKSYON (Ugnayan ng Mag-aaral Laban sa Komersiyalisasyon) alliance of student councils, organizations, and individuals, has resounded increasingly in the classrooms, corridors and tambayans of our university.

As a product of the series of meetings and other consultations, UMAKSYON came up with a list of 18 student demands, which was then submitted to UP President Emerlinda Roman, through Student Regent Shahana Abdulwahid, in the July 31 Board of Regents (BOR) meeting in UP Manila. The demands included, among others:

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Tags: Board of Regents, campus issues, KASAMA sa UP, University Student Council, UP Administration

Our Constitutional Law 1 professor, who happens to be the Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, made us go to Bantayog ng Mga Bayani and Malacanang Palace last Tuesday, instead of holding our usual late afternoon class in UP to talk about extraordinary powers of the chief executive.

It was a good time to talk about the topic, since incidentally it was also the week of the 36th anniversary of Pres. Ferdinand Marcos’ imposition of Martial Law.

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Tags: law blockmates, Malacanang, Manila, Marcos, Martial Law, UP Law

It pains me when friends and colleagues take it against me when I am unable to spend time with them or do some tasks because I need to spend time to study.

Perhaps only fellow law students really understand. Nagsasawa na akong magpaliwanag. I’m just starting to sound like I’m making excuses all the time.

All of you want me to become a lawyer but you make me feel bad for trying to get it done. I don’t think many of you understand how terribly demanding law school is. I’m tempted to take a picture of my piles of readings, worth thousands of pages, all of which I had to read and will have to re-read through for the final examinations, just to show you how seriously I mean it when I say I need all the time I can to study. I wouldn’t wish such an ordeal on any of you.

I’m trying my best to juggle and handle everything. ‘Pag kaya ko naman ginagawa ko, ‘pag may oras ako nagpapakita naman ako. But this I’ll admit, I’m really just so compelled to give much more time to studying. If I don’t spend as much time or more, I’m really, really going to fail some of my subjects. And if I fail I will never become the lawyer you want me to be, something I really want for myself, too.

Tags: rants

Last September 17, students and progressive groups in UP Diliman held an Anti-War Anti-Cha-Cha Festival in protest against the war in Mindanao, Charter Change, and continued gas hikes.

The whole-day activity was kick-started by anti-war games at the lobby of Palma Hall as a form of protest against the continuing deployment of military and US troops in Mindanao. The main game was “Dodgeball Against GMA” where two-teams–one twenty-strong team composed of students in 70’s attire and another in GMA masks–went head to head for the dodgeball championship. The tournament sought to symbolize the triumph of pro-people policies against the current ones being implemented by President Arroyo.

Part of the festival was a forum in the afternoon by leading UP faculty at the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Audio-Visual Room. That was a forum regarding the prospects of the continuing war in light of the current peace negotiations.

Tags: charter change, Gloria Arroyo, Mindanao, Palma Hall, STAND UP, war

Kowloon Restaurant’s greasy pancit canton is a actually a favorite of mine but I would now have to hold back to help compel the restaurant’s owners to make amends for the exploitation of their workers.

[Re-posted from Anton Dulce's Multiply site]

Before June of this year, the Kowloon management refused to pay the minimum wage which was mandated by law. In fact, it did not follow the three most-recent wage hikes, amounting to 82 pesos. As a result, while other workers were already receiving at least P382 a day, the workers of Kowloon only got home P300.

To pressure management into giving them something which the law already mandated as theirs yet which management refused to give, the workers wore black ribbons at work in a single day last June. But instead of listening to the workers, management instead reprimanded them, especially the union leaders.

Afterwards, they decided to hold a “picket protest” after their work hours and away from any locations that would result in disruptions in operations. Afterwards, management decided to hold negotiations with the union. But secretly, they filed a case of “illegal strike” against the workers at the NLRC (National Labor Relations Commission). So when management did agree to raise their wages to P377 a day, the workers only enjoyed this wage hike for one pay day. Why? Because the other Saturday, all 73 members of the union were fired.

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Tags: labor, picket, protest, restaurant, strike, workers

Finally, after a couple of re-shoots, Ali and Mimi’s production is almost done. I hope when we said it was a wrap, it really was a wrap. I’m afraid I don’t have time for another one…

Anyway, this, again, is for a Broadcast Communication (BC) 130 class production. If you might remember, my Mass Comm batchmates who were students in the same subject last year invited me to act, too, in a short production called Lloyd of All Trades. Yes, it was the one with the “infamous” split-second ass-exposure shot.

Anyway, this one’s less scandalous, and a lot more well, romantic and cheesy. The poster might give off the idea that the love story is between me and the kid. NO! It isn’t. According to the script, it’s a “love story that even time stood still for.” He he he.

For those who want to see it, among other Broadcast Communication 130 productions, screening schedule at the College of Mass Communication is as follows:

October 2 (Thursday) 1:00 - 4:30 PM | October 3 (Friday) 10:00-12:30 PM; 2:00-4:30 PM | October 4 (Saturday) 10:00-12:30 PM; 2:00-4:30 PM | October 10 (Friday) Awards Night; 6:00-10:00 PM

At this time of the year when the country remembers the horrors and the atrocities of the Martial Law years imposed 26 years ago, my fraternity, the Upsilon Sigma Phi, traditionally gets some flak for, well, being the fraternity of the late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos and some of his alleged cronies and allies, from Roberto Benedicto to Estelito Mendoza to name some.

The standard way of neutralizing the flak is to invoke the memory of the traditional political opposition that fought the dictatorship, from the likes of Salvador “Doy” Laurel, Joker Arroyo to Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr.

Rarely is it done any other way. Today, let me take the opportunity to complicate the apparent contradictions further to invoke the memory of communist martyrs Merardo Arce and Melito Glor, martyred rebels, fraternity brothers all the same, who integrated with the masses and took the armed means of liberation, and from whose honor the names of the Southern Mindanao Regional Operations and the Southern Tagalog commands of the New People’s Army are named after.

Cliche as it may sound, we must always look at our present conditions without disposing of the lessons of the past. At times when basic conditions of widespread poverty and oppression persist, our remembrance must transcend mere commemoration, to a realization that perhaps the same roots that bore the resistance of the Marcos years, has only entrenched itself further and as such, creates similar tragic conditions and creates the need to sustain the struggle for genuine change.

Tags: Aquino, fraternity, Marcos, Martial Law, Upsilon

Friends,

To those who read my blog, visit it regularly, or whatever, and think I deserve the a Bloggers’ Choice Award, do vote for Bikoy.net at the Philippine Blog Awards.

1. On your blog (at Multiply, BlogSpot, Wordpress, wherever it is), tell us why you voted for the nominee (that’s me, Bikoy.net!)

2. Submit your post URL and some basic info to the Philippine Blog Awards committee using this form. Make sure that you provide the COMPLETE URL of the post you created for your vote to be valid.

3. Once you have submitted your vote post URL, wait for the confirmation from one of our committee members. Please be patient, we will manually go through each and every vote post to make sure it’s valid.

It’s that simple. You also get a chance to win a Nokia N82!

Thanks! Ha ha. This is such a popularity contest. It really isn’t a big deal, as I’ve largely ignored it the past days, but since apparently some people did vote for me, I might as well put some effort into it and campaign to solicit some votes so that the first ones don’t go to waste. I’d appreciate it.