Posts published during November, 2008
Right after class two Fridays ago, the block went to some place along Roosevelt to celebrate Jessa & Mark’s birthday. It was a welcome respite, after the incidents that morning. I only spent a few hours with my blockmates, though, because I had to attend meetings back in Vinzons Hall later that afternoon.
Last Friday morning, as I was busy attending to some tasks at our medical mission for the UP Manininda and their families at the Palma Hall parking lot, I was informed by Jaque, a fellow councilor in the University Student Council, that some fellow students were arrested by the Presidential Security Group and brought to a police station along Anonas for holding a peaceful protest at the UP-Ayala Techno Hub on the occasion of President Arroyo’s arrival for the park’s inauguration.
Together with Jaque and some of my law blockmates, we immediately proceeded to QC Police Station 9 along Anonas to help settle things with authorities and ensure that the students will not get jailed, harmed or anything of that sort. For more than two hours, the police refused to release the students without orders from their higher-ups even though no charges were filed. Eventually, dozens of other students flocked to the station and pressed for the eight students’ release. Soon enough, the media came. Calls from the UP Administration itself ultimately pressured the police to eventually release the students.
Last Friday, as part of the month-long series of activities that the resident fellows of Upsilon Sigma Phi prepared for the fraternity’s 90th Anniversary, we held a joint medical and legal mission and free lunch for the members of the UP Manininda, the union of food vendors in campus, and their families.
The Friday before that, we held a fun relay race at the Palma Hall parking lot where teams of three bested each other by clocking in the fastest time in accomplishing a relay of tasks and obstacles.
Congratulations to my batchmates who organized the activities!
THE ONGOING FIGHT FOR OUR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS
Students’ Rights & Welfare Committee Campaign Updates
On the free use of facilities, dormitory & tambayan issues, lab fees, etc.
by Jaque Eroles, Students’ Rights & Welfare Committee Chairperson
REPRESENT & STRUGGLE: THE OFFICE OF THE STUDENT REGENT & KASAMA SA UP
The history of the Office of the Student Regent & The Katipunan ng Mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP
by JPaul Manzanilla, former USC Chairperson & former Student Regent
STUDENTS UNITE AGAINST COMMERCIALIZATION & FASCISM
by Jaque Eroles & Bikoy Villanueva, USC Councilors
RE: STFAP REVIEW & REVISION
by Third Bagro, USC Chairperson
UP, ARE YOU ECO-ACTIVE?
by Stephen Larcia, USC Councilor
A LOOK INTO THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL
by Sophia San Luis, College of Law Representative
WHEN THE TYRANT IS AFRAID
Taktika ng Papatinding Pampulitikang Panunupil ng Rehimeng Arroyo
by Carmela Lagang, College of Social Work & Community Development Representative
[Katipunan ng Mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP) statement]
Pinakamainit na pagbati, mga Iskolar ng Bayan! Nagbukas na naman ang bagong semestre at kasabay nito ang panibago na namang hamon sa ating mga Iskolar ng Bayan na harapin ang iba’t-ibang usaping kinakaharap hindi lamang ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas kung hindi pati na rin ng buong sambayanang Pilipino. Sa harap ng kabi-kabilang isyung kinakaharap natin kagaya ng papatinding pang-ekonomiyang krisis, ang walang habas na pagtaas na presyo ng mga bilihin at matinding kahirapang hinaharap ng mamamayan, ang kabiguan ng kasalukuyang rehimeng Arroyo na tugunan ang tungkulin nito sa mamamayang Pilipino at ang pasismong hinaharap nito sa mga mamamayang lumalaban para sa ating mga demokratikong mga karapatan; ngayon, higit kailanman ang panahon upang sama-samang kumilos, mangahas at manindigan!
Ang taong ito ang nagmamarka ng pangalawang taon ng pagpapatupad ng pagtataas ng matrikula sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas: mula sa Php 300 per unit ay naging Php 1000 per unit sa autonomous units at mula sa Php 200 per unit ay naging Php 600 naman para sa mga regional units sa kabila ng matinding pagtutol ng mga estudyante; kasama pa dito ang nakaambang taunang pagtataas ng matrikula ayon sa inflation rate. Habang napakataas ng binabayaran ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan, nanatili namang lugmok ang kalagayan ng iba’t-ibang kolehiyo sa iba’t-ibang yunit ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas; nariyan ang pakikigamit ng mga kapwa nating mga Iskolar ng Bayan sa UP Visayas Cebu College ng mga libro sa aklatan ng ibang unibersidad sa Visayas, ang pagpapalipat ng mga estudyante sa kursong Chemical Engineering sa UP Visayas School of Technology sa UP Diliman at UP Los Banos dahil sa kakulangan ng mga pasilidad at instruktor at ang laganap na kakulangan sa mga pasilidad sa buong UP system: ito ang tunay na kalagayan ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas.
The Upsilon Sigma Phi, the oldest Greek-letter fraternity in Asia, is on its 90th year this year, and the resident fellows are celebrating it with a series of events and projects. Hope to see you in one of our activities!
Because we know our second semester is going to be more stressful than the first, and that we possibly wouldn’t have any other chance to enjoy carefree leisure afternoons, my law blockmates and I had a lunch and swimming / badminton party the day before registration and enrollment.
It was potluck lunch and I brought the rice. Others brought the usual pork barbecue, hotdogs, chicken pastel, softdrinks, graham cake, and chips. One of my blockmates prepared a special block awards program. It’s hilarious. After lunch, some of us went to play badminton. I had to leave ahead of everyone, though, because of some meetings in the afternoon.
The first class that we had for this semester is the Legal Profession class we had last Friday afternoon. After the customary self-introductions and whatnot, and before the professor dismissed the class, she asked us to write a short essay on why we wanted to become lawyers, with leading questions that struck some of us. Do we genuinely want to become lawyers to be of service to the people, or are we just pressured by family or peers, or inspired by ambition, politics and wealth?
I’ve always believed that the legal arena is the arena of the ruling order. I’ve always believed our current legal system exists largely to preserve the status quo. Who, after all, makes and passes all our laws. Sure, there are such things such as the bill of rights and the state policies and principles enshrined in our Constitution. But they are there to serve as illusions, a smokescreen to the real and operational code. The wealthy and the powerful get away with anything using the legal system. Farmers and workers are deprived of their rights and a better way of life in favor of capitalists using the legal system. It’s terribly frustrating.
Right after having lunch at Tagaytay with my blockmates, we drove back to Manila in under two hours to get to Star City by six in the evening. We didn’t let Enchanted Kingdom’s being closed douse our excitement for rides.
For some of my blockmates, it was the first time they’ve been to Star City, while for me it was the second time this year. Because it was Tuesday evening, the theme park wasn’t too crowded and the lines not long, so we were able to try out some of the rides multiple times. My blockmates and I bought ride-all-you-can tickets so we took advantage of it by going through almost all of the rides, even to all of the horror houses. At the end of the night, we were professing to each other how much more fun Star City was than Enchanted Kingdom. As some of us say, [Block] B is for bitter.
law student, national democracy activist, film school graduate, photography hobbyist