[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.

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Tags: Board of Regents, KASAMA sa UP, statement, Student Regent

I attended the 28th National Congress of KASAMA sa UP (Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP) last October 27 to 27 at UP Mindanao in Mintal, Davao City. I was there primarily as Deputy Secretary General, partly as member of the UP Diliman University Student Council.

KASAMA sa UP is the broadest alliance of student councils in the University of the Philippines System, with almost thirty member student councils from all the UP units and campuses in the country, from Baguio to Mindanao.

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Tags: Board of Regents, Davao, KASAMA sa UP, Mindanao, UP Mindanao

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

May 22-23, 2008. The NC (National Council) Meet of KASAMA sa UP (Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP) was held from May 22-23, 2008 at a training center in Pit-os, a mountainous and less urban area of Cebu City.

KASAMA sa UP is the broadest alliance of student councils in the University of the Philippine system, with member college student councils and university student councils from UP Baguio, UP Pampanga, UP Diliman, UP Manila, UP Losa Baños, UP Visayas and UP Mindanao.

The delegates first converged at the UP Cebu College campus morning of May 22 before proceeding to Pit-os on hired jeepneys. Since I wasn’t previously aware of the program, I was surprised that the venue wasn’t at UP Cebu itself. Instead the NC meet, as I’ve mentioned, was held at a training center in Cebu City’s Pit-os area, which was more or less half an hour from the city center.

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Tags: Cebu, Cebu City, KASAMA sa UP, UP Cebu

May 20, 2008. I flew to Cebu last Tuesday night for a KASAMA sa UP (Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP) meeting in UP Cebu. The meeting wasn’t until Thursday, but I flew in a few days ahead to able to catch up on however little rest and recreation I could squeeze in my free time. I had wanted to go about it by myself, book a hotel room for two nights and do anything I desired in Cebu City.

I told my mom that I could take care of myself, but she insisted that I stayed with a family friend of ours, whose family is actually one of the old-rich political families in Cebu. Yes, even the highway in Mandaue that we traversed from the airport to Cebu City was named after my host’s father. The long bridge we crossed form Mactan to Mandaue was named after my host’s cousin. They’re not active in politics now, though. This is the same family of my mother’s close college friend, whose father’s death and death anniversary were the reasons why we were in Cebu City a couple of times in the past two years.

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Tags: airport, Cebu, Cebu City, flight, KASAMA sa UP