Posts published during December, 2008

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December 31, 2008

Defend the OSR Concert

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.

Defend the OSR Concert (Dec. 12, '08) Defend the OSR Concert (Dec. 12, '08) Defend the OSR Concert (Dec. 12, '08) Defend the OSR Concert (Dec. 12, '08) Defend the OSR Concert (Dec. 12, '08) Defend the OSR Concert (Dec. 12, '08)

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December 30, 2008

Defend the OSR Video

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.

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December 29, 2008

Uphold Judicial Integrity

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.

Law Has a Conscience Forum (Dec. 12, '08) Law Has a Conscience Forum (Dec. 12, '08) Law Has a Conscience Forum (Dec. 12, '08) Law Has a Conscience Forum (Dec. 12, '08) Law Has a Conscience Forum (Dec. 12, '08) Law Has a Conscience Forum (Dec. 12, '08)

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December 28, 2008

University Convocation

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.

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Four months left in USC 08-09

USC General Assembly #17 (Dec. 8, '08) USC General Assembly #17 (Dec. 8, '08) USC General Assembly #17 (Dec. 8, '08) USC General Assembly #17 (Dec. 8, '08) USC General Assembly #17 (Dec. 8, '08) USC General Assembly #17 (Dec. 8, '08)

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.

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December 27, 2008

STAND-UP 12th Anniversary

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.

STAND-UP 12th Anniversary Congress (Dec. 8, '08) STAND-UP 12th Anniversary Congress (Dec. 8, '08) STAND-UP 12th Anniversary Congress (Dec. 8, '08) STAND-UP 12th Anniversary Congress (Dec. 8, '08) STAND-UP 12th Anniversary Congress (Dec. 8, '08) STAND-UP 12th Anniversary Cultural Night (Dec. 10, '08)

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.

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STAND-UP: Defend Student Rights, Uphold Democratic Rights

There is no room for indifference or fence-sitting, especially when doing so only bolsters a status quo where the rights of many are sacrificed at the altar of narrow interests.

The University of the Philippines sits at a unique juncture in history.

This year, we, Iskolars ng Bayan, have witnessed the turning points in both the local and the international arena; turning points that have introduced rapid changes that rippled across the country and into the university. From the Wall Street meltdown to the UP centennial, these shifts define the juncture in which the Philippines and UP is imbricated, and in this decisive moment, the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights – UP (STAND-UP) reaffirms and invigorates its principles — to serve the students and the wide majority of the Filipino people. This year calls for nothing less than the most steadfast commitment to the students’ rights and the larger interests of the people.

But while this tumultuous year draws to a close, the critical hour of dissent is far from over.

In its centennial year, UP has much to be proud of. Within the university’s grounds, cries for social transformation have propelled the politicization of entire generations, giving birth to a social movement that tirelessly clamored for national emancipation from the Marcos dictatorship and from neoliberal policies. It is this tradition of critical dissent which STAND-UP continues to uphold, leaving no room for neutrality or passivity.

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December 26, 2008

Exhausting holidays

After not being able to blog for more than a week, I always find it difficult to restart. The dilemma always is, do I start with the present or do I chronicle down the unwritten past days, chronologically? Do I just dump all the pictures in a blog entry or do I go write down a decent journal entry to go with it? Petty things, I know.

Needless to say, the past weeks has been, for me, my most exhausting holiday season, yet, for reasons I have already mentioned, and some not. For almost two weeks prior to Christmas, I’ve been having activities every day, coming home past midnight, waking up early the next morning for another full day of tasks. When it was all over, I just dropped dead on my bed and the next thing I knew, I had slept for almost twelve hours. And then it was Christmas.

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December 25, 2008

Christmas is our drug

Tumitingkad tuwing kapaskuhan and ‘di pagkakapantay-pantay sa lipunan. ‘Di lahat siguradong merry–at alam ito ng bawat isa. Kaya nga wish tayo nang wish ng Merry Christmas sa isa’t isa.

Sana, sa bawat sambit natin ng salitang Merry o Happy ay kalakipang kahilingang mapunta sa ating kapwa ang sa kanya’y nararapat at ang pagnanais na makaambag sa pangyayari nito.

Para sa mulat na pagdiriwang ng pasko at sa pagpapanibagong hubog sa bagong taon!

It’s not the most sentimental Christmas greeting I received, but it’s probably the one that I thought was quite meaningful. In a season when glaring social inequalities are grossly reinforced, sure it’s comforting to surrender to a collective temporary amnesia where we all seem to agree to forget our worries and just be happy. But we all know no matter how much we wish or pray for every day to be like Christmas, it will never happen. Sa mundo at panahong hitik sa tunggalian at kontradiksyon, isang pangarap lang ang paghiling na ang araw-araw ay maging Pasko lagi. Which all the more makes this brief season worth savoring.

Merry Christmas, folks. Glad to be back blogging.

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December 10, 2008

A heavy Christmas workload

This has got to be my most hectic Christmas season yet. From big campus and national campaigns to extra-curricular functions, and almost none of them related to Christmas.

This week, for example, as part of the Defend the Office of the Student Regent campaign of KASAMA sa UP (Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP), we’re going to have a twelve-hour concert this Friday, right after the broad multi-sectoral mobilization in Makati against the Arroyo administration’s attempt at Charter Change.

This week is also the 12th anniversary week of STAND-UP (Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights – UP), where starting last Saturday, we’ve been having daily activities, from an all-day road painting, to an alliance congress to a cultural night tonight to an alumni night this Saturday.

In the University Student Council, we’ve also been having our last activities and assemblies for the year. We’ve just co-launched the Cine Veritas Human Rights Festival and wrapped up Karolfest yesterday, then there’s a big University Convocation tomorrow–and that’s not all, I still have to produce our last newsletter for the year.

For the past weeks up until this coming Friday, we’ve also been having weekly events and functions in Upsilon Sigma Phi for our 90th anniversary. We had our annual car stuffing and food stuffing event last Friday.

I haven’t even mentioned the increasing pile of academic workload for this semester. And speaking of law school, my block organized a forum this Friday, about judicial integrity, then we’re also having the annual Malcolm Madness this Saturday.

Next week, there would still be preparations for the Lantern Parade, then there’d be the KASAMA sa UP NC Meet, and to cap it all off, an All UP Student Councils Assembly which promises to be a stressful and heated assembly of student councils with conflicting ideologies and interests.

So, where’s the Christmas spirit? Where are the Christmas parties? I haven’t had time for any! Masyadong maraming kailangang isipin, gawin at napakaraming problema lang talaga sa UP at sa Pilipinas. I need to cheer up, and well, gear up for another year soon.

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