March « 2010 « Victor Villanueva

Posts published during March, 2010

March 31, 2010

Opportunist Roxas claims victory where he did nothing

Roxas never even posted a Twitter or Facebook message to support the students. Mar Roxas photo from Wikipedia

In an unprecedented press release, the office of Senator Manuel Roxas II claimed that it was because of the Senator, and current vice-presidential candidate, why the almost 2,000% tuition hike in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines was shelved. If that was not insulting enough, he dismissed and belittled the students who fought against the proposal by describing them simply as “unruly” the same way the perfumed gatekeepers of “civility” have been demonizing their militant actions.

Mr. Roxas never spoke up against the proposal to increase tuition in the largest state university of the country. In fact, in his entire career as a senator, a congressman and an economist, he has been tolerating and promoting the liberalization of education in the country which has lead to the increasing commercialization and privatization of our state universities and colleges.

Ka Satur Ocampo personally went to the PUP Sta. Mesa campus to deliver words of solidarity to protesting students. He had just come from COMELEC after filing a disqualification case against presidential son Mikey Arroyo who is running for Congress under a fraudulent party-list

Only senatorial candidate and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and fellow senatorial candidate and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza also spoke up against the tuition increase and linked it to the Arroyo government’s policy of state abandonment of higher education. Only Satur Ocampo went to the PUP campus in Sta. Mesa to join the protests of the students. That same day, he went to visit the Manila Police District HQ to boost the morale of the detained students, charged with trumped up cases of robbery after attempting to bring their dilapidated chairs to the Commission on Higher Education to show the sorry state of their school.

Notwithstanding lack of sleep from an entire day of campaigning, Ka Satur proceeded to the Manila Police District HQ to support and boost the morale of the PUP student leaders detained for protesting against the tuition hike. Ka Satur was once also detained in the same precinct for fighting the abuses of the Arroyo government.

Among the presidential candidates, only Bangon Pilipinas bet Eddie Villanueva spoke up in support of the student protests against the tuition hike in his alma mater. In fact, he also even went to the Manila Police District HQ to support the detained students and to deliver a message of solidarity to the protesting youths.

There was never a Mar Roxas.

Post-Script: This entry goes without saying that of course, Kabataan Partylist has from the beginning always been at the forefront of the campaign to stop the tuition increase in PUP and other state colleges and universities and of the campaign to increase state subsidy for education and other social services.

Also, a few days into the protests, senatorial candidate Adel Tamano issued a statement that he vows to push for the rechanneling of debt servicing payments to education by repealing the Automatic Appropriations Act that has burdened Filipinos with inadequate social services and increasing costs of education and health care.

Still, no Mar Roxas.

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March 27, 2010

Our freedom and our rights were not won with diplomacy

Anuman ang sabihin ng mga kontra-aktibista, wala nang ibang magpapatunay sa kawastuhan ng linya at pamamaraaan na tinahak ng mga estudyanteng nag-protesta laban sa tuition hike kung hindi ang mismong pag-atras at pagsuko ng CHED (Commission on Higher Education) at ng PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines) administration sa kanilang maitim na balak, at ang hindi pagkakatuloy sa paga-apruba ng mga bagong bayarin sa UP (University of the Philippines) nang dahil sa kolektibong pagkilos ng mga kabataan. The campaigns wouldn’t have been successful any other way.

To be clear, Kabataan Partylist, together with its founding organizations like the National Union of Students of the Philippines and its student leaders, have long pursued lobbying for greater state subsidy for education and holding dialogues against any attempt to hike tuition and other fees. We have always been ever mindful and aware, however, that it is militant and collective action that is decisive in winning our democratic fights. The government never granted us our rights on a silver platter, after all, especially when it is equally determined to pursue its selfish agenda, without any genuine intention to listen to the demands of its constituents. True enough, students had to barricade Quezon Hall, bring down the gates of CHED’s main office and throw paint bombs at its glass doors for these offices to bow down to the democratic interests of the people they were supposed to serve.

Nais kong ibalik ang tanong sa mga kontra-aktibista. Ano ba ang sinasabi ninyong mas mapayapa at mas epektibong paraan na hindi namin ginawa? Ginawa niyo ba ito?

Napakabilis ng pagkondena ng mga kontra-aktibista sa “marahas” na paraan na ginawa ng mga estudyante. Nasaan ang inyong pagkondena sa tuition increase na kung tutuusin ay mas marahas dahil sa pagkakait nito ng magandang kinabukasan sa libo-libong kabataan? Ni hindi ko narinig ni nakita miski sa isang Facebook status message ang pagtutol ninyo dito.

Is it that easy to forget, that throughout history, the freedom of nations, the rights of the people were never won with mere diplomacy. All of them were fought for by the people through street protests and bloody revolutions.

Today, five student leaders of PUP remain detained under the custody of the police for charges of of “robbery” filed against them by the shamed PUP administration. These students were among the hundreds who tried to bring to the gates of CHED their dilapidated desks as a sign of protest against the state’s abandonment of education. Samantala, patuloy pa rin ang sistematikong pagnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan, ang pagakakait sa mamamayan ng karapatan sa serbisyong panlipunan, at ang pinakamadugas na magnanakaw ay nasa Malacanang.

(Students will still gather and hold a protest action on March 29, 2010 at the Board of Regents meeting of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines at a posh bayside hotel in Manila, to ensure that CHED and the PUP administration hold true to their word that they will not increase tuition in the nation’s largest state university.)

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March 22, 2010

Why candidates must take a stand on the PUP tuition hike crisis

Students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Manila walked out of their classes last Friday, March 19, 2010, to protest the impending implementation of the almost 2,000% tuition increase in the largest state university in the country. Agitated students set to flames decades-old and dilapidated armchairs to show their disgust and anger at the school administration and the government for its apparent state abandonment of higher education. PUP is one of the country’s 111 state universities and colleges, funded largely by the Philippine government to provide accessible tertiary education to young Filipinos.

PUP, at present, charges only P12 per unit from its students, the lowest among state-run schools, aside from various miscellaneous fees. The affordable rate of tuition makes the university accessible to more than 50,000 new students at any given year, many of whom come from families of ordinary wage earners, rank and file employees, overseas workers and peasants.

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March 21, 2010

2010 Mock Elections in the University of the Philippines

There is an ongoing mock elections happening in the University of the Philippines system this week till next. All UP students from units and campuses from UP Baguio to UP Mindanao are involved. Majority of the national university’s more than 50,000 students are expected to participate.

The project, entitled Botong Isko 2010 seeks to “unite students and the whole UP community for a clean, transparent, and honest elections, and to find out which candidates are favored by the Iskolar ng Bayan.” The endeavor also seeks to engage politicians in the issues of the youth, especially of UP students, and of the country summed up in UP students’ agenda for change.

Kabataan Partylist, which has college chapters in UP Diliman, campaigned on the first day of the mock elections, encouraging students to participate, recognizing the potential impact of an institutional victory among iskolars ng bayan in the premiere university in the country. UP students are perceived to be a legitimate representation of the Filipino youth, with students from all over the country. (“Perceived” because we have to remember that only a minority of voting-age Filipino youth are able to afford and attend college, and the University of the Philippines at that).

The daughter of presidential aspirant Manny Villar, Camille, also went college hopping in UP Diliman on first day, encouraging UP students to get involved, and of course vote for his father, an alumnus of the university himself. Supporters of Makabayan senatorial candidates Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza also made their rounds in the different colleges in campus.

In the next few days, other candidates will be trooping to UP to campaign and sway the votes of UP students. The victors in this mock election may well claim to have the vote of the iskolar ng bayan. As to whether or not it translates to an actual representation of the general sentiment of the Filipino youth, I do not know, but surely it reflects the votes of those among the best and the brightest youth of the country.

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March 20, 2010

PUP students protest proposed 2,000% tuition hike

Yesterday, hundreds of students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila walked out of their classes to protest the proposed almost 2,000% tuition hike in the largest state university in the country. Agitated students threw out dilapidated armchairs and desks from the balconies and piled them up in front of the main arts building. They even set them up in flames to show their disgust at the school administration and the government for its neoliberal policy of abandoning tertiary education in the country.

The Polytechnic University of the Philippines offers the lowest tuition rate in the country at P12 per unit (around a quarter US dollar). This affordable rate has made PUP accessible to the 50,000 Filipino children it accommodates every year in its numerous campuses across the archipelago. Many of the students are children of ordinary wage earners, rank and file employees, overseas workers and peasants.

When the University of the Philippines administration planned to raise its tuition by 300% in late 2006, we were afraid it would set a precedent that other state universities would use to justify similar tuition hikes as prescribed by the government’s foreign lenders, which was one of the reasons we vehemently opposed the move.

We were right. State college EARIST (Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science & Technology) increased its tuition a year later, using the UP situation as a justification. State universities have since then been imposing various dubiously-named fees as a result of budget cuts imposed by the government.

Overseas, foreign governments from Greece to the US are also cutting down on the budgets of their state universities and colleges and other social services in order to make do with decreasing government revenues and to accommodate gigantic debt payments to multinational lenders. Students have been confronting such attacks on their rights with forms of protests such as walk-outs. Students of state universities in California, for example, staged massive walk-outs last year, even going as far as barricading their schools in order to protest the budget cuts to be imposed by the state government.

Anti-student and pro-government formations have branded the PUP students as hooligans. The final message of the TV report on the protest, however, was succinct in addressing such accusations. “Mawasak na raw lahat ng gamit sa paaralan, huwag lang ang karapatan ng mamamayan sa edukasyon.” (In the first place, the chairs that were burned were those dilapidated ones that were already unusable). The students and the people have no other alternative but to fight for their rights.

Protests will continue throughout the next week leading to the March 29 PUP Board of Regents meeting that will decide on the tuition hike proposal. Let us support the campaign of the students of PUP. Let us join them in the streets as they fight for greater state subsidy for education. Ang laban nila ay hindi lang laban ng PUP, kung hindi laban ng lahat ng kabataan para sa karapatan sa edukasyon. Mabuhay ang mga iskolar ng bayan!

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March 19, 2010

On student council elections

The past month saw various student council election campaigns in campuses across the country. For some students and for those of us who have graduated, there is a tendency to dismiss student council elections in major universities as irrelevant child play. For me, though, and I’m not saying this just because I have always been involved in campus politics, I believe that student council elections are legitimate exercises of students democratic rights. It serves as a rehearsal for students of their part in the larger context of Philippine society. I also believe that the leadership of the student council is decisive and crucial in the formation of student mass movements against commercialization of education and campus repression.

In the University of the Philippines Diliman, the militant Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights – UP (STAND-UP) regained the leadership of the University Student Council, after two years of losing the Chairman position. The Alternative Students’ Alliance for Progress – Katipunan ng mga Progresibong Mag-aaral ng Bayan (ASAP-KATIPUNAN) in UP Manila similarly regained the leadership of their University Student Council after three years of losing. STAND-UP and ASAP-KATIPUNAN’s nationalist counterparts in the other UP campuses in UP Baguio, UP Tacloban, UP Miag-ao, UP Cebu and UP Mindanao also scored resounding victories. This is indeed a reaffirmation of the genuine leadership that nationalist and militant activists offer and the potency of militant and collective activism in challenging attacks to students’ rights and welfare and in engaging the different issues that plague the country.

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March 17, 2010

Lakbay Norte 2010: Where to stay in Subic & Olongapo

January 29-30, 2010. During the Zambales leg of our Lakbay Norte caravan, we were accommodated at the White Rock Resort Hotel near Olongapo. It is a 150-room hotel in a vast estate along the beach. It is also a resort and waterpark with two giant wave pools where visitors can ride the tides. They also have a bowling alley and an entertainment center.

A few minutes drive from the Subic Bay Freeport, it maintains its own peaceful isolation from the rest of the commercial centers in Subic and Olongapo, though it’s close enough for guests to enjoy night-outs in the restaurants and bars in the freeport.

Families can also stay at the Lighthouse Marina Resort Hotel, one of Subic’s newer deluxe hotels, and apparently one of its pricier ones. It is located in Subic Freeport itself, and is along the beach, so it is just walking distance from the restaurants, bars and shops in the area.

The management of the hotel generously hosted our breakfast and lunch during our stay in Subic.

We were supposed to be toured around the bay onboard a yacht, but we ended up in a Subic bay coast guard speedboat, which was not bad at all. Around the bay, we were oriented to the new seaport facilities and major infrastructures (not by the government, but privately built, by the Koreans I heard) that have been built to accommodate the plan to make Subic a major economic hub.

Before leaving Subic, we also dropped by Mountain Woods Resort Inn, still in the freeport. It is a boutique hotel (with only 28 well-appointed guest rooms) tucked in the lush foliage of Subic’s mountains, and provides an alternative to the usual beach and seaside resort accommodations in the area.

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March 15, 2010

A career in law?

A few days ago, I submitted the initial set of requirements for my entry into another law school. It’s been more than half a year since I got dismissed from UP Law. I really don’t want to give law up. I don’t really mind repeating the classes I’ve taken during my freshman year. In fact, I want to take them again in order to refresh myself and relearn the lessons I’ve taken.

Today, as it has always been, I still do not want to become a career lawyer, a lawyer working overtime with law firms in some office, defending random clients. That kind of lifestyle doesn’t appeal to me at all, notwithstanding the benefits or compensation. I want to study the law and be a lawyer so that I can promote and defend what I do as an activist, and do it better, from researching and drafting resolutions and bills in Congress to taking part in campaigns to protect and promote the rights of people. I want to study the law to make sure that the people I work with, the people I serve, and the people I care for and love will not be taken advantage of. Sure, I can read and study law books here and there without having to go through with the formality of attending school and passing the bar, but I have to recognize the fact that the social status of being a lawyer commands respect. It’s a kind of authority to challenge authority.

Yes, I’ve also thought about having to earn a living and provide for my family in the future. But I can set up a small shop take on a few “rakets” anyway. All I need is to support a simple family lifestyle. The idea of using law as a primary source of income is not appealing to me, too.

A few days ago, a group of disgruntled and desperate parents of University of the East students went to the headquarters of Kabataan Partylist. They have been calling our office almost every day the past weeks narrating their despair with regard to their children being maltreated in the school’s apparently abusive CAT training, among many other complaints. They have coursed their concerns to many politicians and government officials but they were not being given the attention they needed. I was talking to them about the kinds of campaigns we can mount in order to put a stop to the abuses, among other things. But then I also realized that it has to be complemented with legal action, of which I couldn’t properly advice them on. These kinds of situations reinforce my desire to study the law.

I apologize for not being able to update my blog the past month. Most of the tasks I have been assigned the past months for Kabataan Partylist is to speak and keep in touch with like-minded politicians and youth candidates from all over the country from different persuasions and political parties, forging formal and tactical alliances with a common agenda of change. One of these days we will launch an alliance of young men and women running for office this elections, united in upholding new politics from the youth for the people.

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March 5, 2010

Lakbay Norte 2010: Subic & Olongapo

Subic Bay Freeport was once home to one of the largest overseas naval bases of the Americans. Since the abrogation of the bases agreement in the early 90′s, Subic has been transformed into a premiere freeport with a robust business and investment climate.

Subic attracts hundreds of thousands of local and foreign tourists who flock to the freeport for its duty free shopping, its nature and adventure activities, and its excellent convention facilities. Reports even claim that the freeport received more than two million local and foreign visitors in 2009, making it the top tourist destination for locals and foreigners.

One of Subic’s newest attractions is the Subic Tree Top Adventure in the virgin forests of Subic. Visitors can try out their Superman Ride where one is suspended horizontally along a zip line that transports one from one tree top to another hundreds of meters away in a matter of seconds. Other exhilarating activities include the canopy walk on the wooden trail on top of the forest’s 60-foot trees and rappelling down the canopy. One may also enjoy a trek through the trails of the forest. They also have their own cafe and restaurant where visitors can enjoy their meals amidst towering greens.