It was probably the largest anti-Arroyo youth mobilization I’ve been to. Thousands of students from dozens of high schools, colleges and universities in Metro Manila, including several hundreds from UP Diliman, converged at Plaza Miranda and marched together towards Mendiola to air the youth’s collective and justified grievances against the Arroyo administration.

My day started mildly with an interview together with Airah at the Office of Student Affairs as a requirement for recognition of STAND-UP. Then we went back to Math Building to speak with students who have themselves walked out, and invited them to join the protest at Palma Hall and at Mendiola.

Before noon, dozens of students marched from the Math Building and the National Institute of Geological Sciences Building to join the hundreds of other students at Palma Hall lobby for a brief program before we all boarded jeepneys to Espana, Manila.

From Espana, the UP Diliman contingent were joined by hundreds of students from nearby high schools and colleges, and students from the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). Together, we marched along Quezon Boulevard, amidst some cheers and confetti from pedestrians and residents along the road, all the way to Plaza Miranda where the main program of the protest was held.

For around two hours we all chanted and listened to impassioned speeches from representatives of schools and universities, even from the largely bourgeoisie Ateneo de Manila, to sectoral representatives from Bayan Muna, Kabataang Pinoy Party and other mass organizations. At half past four, we all started to march in thousands to Mendiola.

By the time we all got to Morayta in front of Far Eastern University (FEU), the police unleashed their fire truck water canons and tried to disperse the thousands-strong warm bodies by pushing us back. It was agitating. It was the first time I volunteered to to join the front-liners to break through the police barricade. I’ve never felt so angry and agitated in a rally before. As we were linking arms, pushing and shoving against the policemen who were pushing us back, I wanted to burst and scream. All we had were our unarmed selves, our principles and our justified calls. And to that, the Arroyo administration answers back, not with long-term and genuine pro-people solutions, but intensified forms of repression and military intelligence operations against the youth in campuses across the country.

I’ve never felt more resolved in my involvement in the youth movement.

(Fine, to appease those who fear I might default on my studies, I’ve never been more resolved in pursuing law studies having realized how this administration has continually used the legal system and its technicalities to oppress and repress dissent, and maintain its hold on to power. I’ve never been more resolved realizing that the high cost of law studies, even in UP, has made it even more exclusive to those who can afford it, and are fortunate enough to have connections, to the detriment of the people who need legal education the most).

Agitated as we were, we decided to march back towards Espana and held a noise barrage amidst cheers from motorists and pedestrians. We were joined by contingents from COURAGE and MIGRANTE.

This President is a dead duck after 2010. If you still believe she will willfully hand over the administration to the next leader, you better think again. To survive beyond 2010 and all the cases that will definitely come her way, this President will simply not step down, unless it is certain the next administration will protect her. Such she knows we will not allow either in the next elections, (if there will be a national election two years from now). Friends, there’s no other way but to oust this corrupt and fascist administration. There’s no better time than now. Pinning our hopes on genuine change in 2010 is almost plain naivete.

And while she and her family spends our money, amassing billions of pesos from her family’s monopoly on government contracts and other such kickbacks, millions of Filipinos continue to fall below the poverty line amidst a worsening economic crises that has affected and has cut through all classes and sectors in society (except her family and cohorts, of course).

Kabataan, hindi na tayo pag-asa ng bayan. Inaasahan na tayo ng sambayanan.

[Pictures from Jonna Baldres]

Tags: corruption, economic crises, Gloria Arroyo, Manila, political dissent, political repression, rally, STAND UP, Youth Act Now, youth sector

It’s quite interesting how the start of the school season seems to be the signal for the administration to open the floodgates for the barrage of pro-administration propaganda. Suddenly, all sorts of tarpaulins harping the President’s so-called economic achievements and proclaiming empty slogans of prosperity have proliferated all across the metropolis, alongside posters bearing “Pilipinas kong mahal!” I was on the LRT 2 a few days back and I noticed how huge print ads have been set-up at the stations with large imposing pictures of the President and the words katarungan and ekonomiya beside her, in bold letters. These are, of course, in addition to the other pro-Arroyo print advertisements on national dailies and anti-militant advertisements on TV.

Also, in an effort to water down discontent and dissent among the people, the administration has been giving token dole-outs left and right, from electric bill subsidies, fertilizer subsidies, and scholarships. All of which are one-time, and of course temporary. Thus, the obvious motive for such is not to seek to change what’s inherently wrong in the prevailing order but is to simply quiet down and dupe the masses in a time where crises in basic commodities and social services have become unbearable, and in a time when such crises could spark another wave of anti-administration demonstrations.

No amount of bribes in the form of ultra-temporary financial reliefs nor rampant government propaganda will fool the people or solve their hunger and discontent. What we need are higher state subsidies and government regulation of basic industries and social services. Lest we forget, calls of accountability transparency amidst billion-peso corruption scandals are still being ignored.

What I’m also trying to say is that the proliferation of government propaganda at a time when millions of Filipino students are about to return and reconvene in schools across the country is a recognition of the power of the youth movement in social change.

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Tags: education, food shortage, Gloria Arroyo, Jun Lozada, propaganda, Youth Act Now, youth sector

The banner headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer today caught me off-guard. “GMA: No to Tuition Hike.” What a spin that was!

It was simply that, a press gimmick. What makes her statement entirely preposterous is that in the first place, it is her administration’s long standing policy to direct state colleges and universities (SUC’s) to tighten their belts and increase fees and other self-generating income procedures (Long Term Higher Education Development Plan 2010). It was also her administration’s directive policy to lift the tuition increase cap on private educational institutions, hence opening the floodgates of incessant increases in tuition across the country. It’s because of her why tuition and other fees have been increasing rampantly the past years.

And what purpose will this statement serve? It doesn’t make sense. Private and state universities have already increased tuition months and years ago. Various fee increases in state colleges and universities have already been implemented under her administration. Students have already been forced to pay their fees. Unless the President’s directive is retroactive, which it is apparently not, it’s an empty gimmick. Unless she orders for a tuition rollback, the directive is useless.

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Tags: education, Gloria Arroyo, media, political dissent, propaganda, tuition increase, youth sector

March 14, 2008. Thousands of students from different universities in Metro Manila marched to Liwasang Bonifacio to continue the clamor for truth and accountability from the scandal-ridden Arroyo administration.

It was the Friday before Holy Week, many students were busy with exams and other final academic requirements for the semester. Despite the academic load and pressure on that day, around a hundred students and teachers from UP Diliman joined the youth rally at Liwasang Bonifacio.

A short program was held at the steps of Palma Hall before we all boarded hired jeepneys to Espana Avenue in Manila, from where we marched all the way through Quiapo until we crossed the Pasig River to Liwasang Bonifacio.

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Tags: Espana, Gloria Arroyo, Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila, Palma Hall, Philippine politics, political dissent, rally, UP Diliman, youth sector