Philippine Collegian Tomo 93 Issue 18

KULĂŠ

Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016 Tomo 93 Espesyal na Isyu

2 EDITORYAL

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

KAPIT SA PATALIM WALANG PAGBABAGONG MAGAGANAP kung hindi mananaig ang tunay na hustisya sa bansa.

Ngayong araw, mapupuno ang lansangan ng mga mamamayang buo ang suporta at mananawagan ng hamon kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa kanyang unang State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Kasabay ng panawagang tugunan ang pamantayang serbisyo para sa mga Pilipino, isusulong din na wakasan ang lumalalang isyu ng kawalan ng hustisya sa bansa.

Maituturing na positibong bagay ang pagtalima ng administrasyon sa pangakong tatapusin ang problema sa droga sa loob lamang ng anim na buwan, ngunit salungat sa kaparatang-pantao ang sunod-sunod na pagpatay sa mga hinihinalaang nagtutulak o gumagamit ng droga.

Sa tala na inilabas ng Philippine National Police, may 505 katao na ang patay sa kaso ng droga simula noong Hunyo 30. Hindi pa kabilang dito ang mga pinatay ng mga hindi kilalang tao. Karaniwang biktima ang mga maralitang tagalungsod na itinuturing na mga small-scale dealers at users sapagkat mabilis na naaabswelto ang mayayaman at may pangalan.

Tunay na may pinapaboran at mabagal ang pag-usad ng hustisya sa bansa. Ilang mga estudyante, aktibista, magsasaka, at manggagawa na ang dinukot, pinagsamantalahan at pinatay ngunit hanggang ngayon ay wala pa ring kagyat na tugon ang pamahalaan.

Kaya naman nawawalan ng kredibilidad ang awtoridad sa responsibilidad nitong bigyang seguridad ang mamamayan lalo na’t nagpapatimo ng takot at pangamba ang pagpatay sa mga pinaghihinalaan lamang na mga suspek. Samantala, kaya namang ipapatay ng isang makapangyarihang angkan ang 58 katao sa ilalim ng tirik na tirik na araw katulad na lamang ng nangyari sa Ampatuan Masaker.

Hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin nabibigyang hustisya ang mga pinatay.

Sa halip, nagpapatuloy ang kawalan ng pananagutan ng gobyerno at utak ng naturang mga krimen.

Hindi mabibigyang solusyon ng administrasyong Duterte ang problema sa droga kung hindi nito uugatin ang problema — kurapsyon, kahirapan at kawalang suporta mula sa pamahalaan.

Ang kawalan ng sapat na oportunidad sa bansa at kakulangan sa edukasyon para sa mga kabataan ang nag-uudyok sa kanilang kumapit sa patalim.

Mabilis kitain ang pera sa droga. Malaking halaga ang kapalit ng simpleng paghahatid ng produkto, mas malaki kumpara sa manggagawang nagtatrabaho ng ilang oras ngunit wala pa sa minimum wage.

Anumang iligal na gawain ang kinasasangkutan ng isang pinaghihinalaang suspek, karapatan nitong sumailalim sa tamang proseso. Hindi kailanman naging solusyon ang tila kamay na bakal na pagtugon sa problema kung saan direktang inilalagay ng awtoridad sa kanilang mga kamay ang batas.

Pagtugon sa kakulangan sa pamantayang serbisyo ang susi upang iahon sa kahirapan at kawalang oportunidad ang maraming Pilipino. Mabilis at maayos na sistema ng paglutas sa mga kaso ang dapat na bigyang pansin ng administrasyon — magpasa ng mga batas na magtitiyak ng tamang proseso para sa mga suspek at batas na sasalamin hindi lamang sa iilan. Bilang pangunahing biktima ng droga ang mga kabataan, higit ang pangangailangan na magpatayo ng mga rehabilitation center na uunawa at magbibigay gabay sa kanila.

Hinahamon naman ang midya, sa kabila ng pagiging pangunahing biktima ng paglabag sa karapatang-pantao, na huwag magpakulong sa pag-uulat at makiisa sa pag-iimbestiga upang mabigyang hustisya ang mga biktima.

Sa mga panahong sinasang-ayunan ng korte ang mga utak ng pagpatay, higit lamang itong nag-aanyaya ng karahasan at paglabag sa karapatang-pantao sa mga mamamahayag, aktibista at iba pang sektor ng lipunan. Sa SONA ng pangulo ang tamang pagkakataon upang palakasin ang panawagang wakasan ang bulok at baluktot na sistema ng hustisya sa bansa. 

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 2015-2016

PATULOY NA MANININDIGAN ITO ANG PANAHON NG PAGBABALIK-TANAW at paglakad pasulong.

Sa loob ng dalawang taon, nagpatuloy ang tradisyunal na pagtangan ng Philippine Collegian sa isang uri ng pamamahayag na hindi popular sa marami. Buong tapang itong nakisangkot sa laban ng mga mag-aaral at ng mamamayan sa labas ng pamantasan, at tinasa ang mga palisiya ng nagdaang administrasyon na nagkait ng pamantayang serbisyo sa iba’t ibang sektor.

Laman ng mga pahina ng Collegian ang lantarang pagturing ng termino ni dating Pangulong Benigno Aquino III sa edukasyon bilang isang produkto sa halip na karapatan ng kabataan. Inilunsad nito ang programang K-12 sa kabila ng oposisyon mula sa estudyante at kaguruan, kung saan dinagdagan ng dalawang taong pagaaral ang mga nasa primarya at sekundarya. Tunguhin umano nitong makapaglikha ng murang lakas-paggawa na tutugon sa pangangailangan ng ibang bansa.

Nilayon naman ng kanyang programang Roadmap for Public Higher Education na makapagsarili ang mga pampublikong unibersidad sa pamamagitan ng pagkalap ng sarili nilang pondo, sa anyo ng mataas na matrikula at iba pang bayarin. Makikita ito sa UP sa porma ng Socialized Tuition System na nagkamal ng kita mula sa mga estudyante, at pagkakaroon ng kalahati lamang ng panukalang pondo na ipinapasa nito.

Bakas sa mga larawan ng Collegian ang sunod-sunod na pagkasunog ng mga gusali sa unibersidad katulad ng College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association Food Center, Alumni Center, at Faculty Center. Kalakip ng bawat larawan ang panawagang bigyang pansin ang paglalaan ng sapat na badyet sa pagsasaayos ng mga gusali at pagtitiyak sa seguridad ng mga estudyante.

Hindi rin pinalagpas ng pahayagan ang danas ng mga manggagawang kontraktwal sa loob mismo ng UP na nananawagang mabigyan ng sapat na benepiyo at karagdagang sahod mula sa kanilang ahensiyang pinagtatrabahunan. Itinala ng Collegian ang mga nakaambang demolisyon ng mga komunidad sa pamantasan, gayundin ng mga

maralitang lungsod na matatamaan ng mga proyektong maglilingkod sa interes ng iilan.

Sa kabila ng kaliwa’t kanang isyu sa unibersidad, nagawa pang makapaglaan ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ng malaking pondo para sa proyektong Electronic UP (eUP) na tinatayang mangangasiwa ng mga datos sa lahat ng constituent unit ng UP. Lumipas man ang ilang taon, walang patid na iniulat ng Collegian ang takbo ng kaso ng mga biktima ng paglabag sa mga karapatang-pantao gaya ng mga estudyanteng sina Karen Empeño at Sherlyn Cadapan na dinukot ng mga militar sa Hagonoy, Bulacan noong 2006 at ang patuloy na pandarahas sa mga lumad. Nagpapatuloy ang pagbabakwit ng mga katutubo bunsod ng militarisasyon ng kanilang mga paaralan at mga lupain, at pamamaslang ng kanilang mga pinuno.

Sa bawat artikulo, sa bawat balita, sa bawat dibuho at litratong inilalathala sa pahayagan, buong tapang nitong binabasag ang mito ng obhetibo at anumang porma ng pluralismo.

Hindi kailanman ninais ng Collegian na pasiyahin ang mga mambabasa kaya marami ang tumutuligsa sa uri ng pamamahayag na pinanghahawakan nito. Ngayong taon, sinubok ang Collegian ng mga isyu tulad ng pagtanggal sa badyet na siyang nagsisilbing buhay nito upang magpatuloy ng operasyon, kakulangan sa miyembro at ang mahigpit ngunit mabagal na palisiya ng administrasyon ng UP sa paghawak ng badyet ng publikasyon.

Sa pagsisimula ng panibagong taon, inaanyayahan ng Collegian ang bawat kabataan na makibahagi sa laban at mandato nitong magbalita at itaas ang kamulatan ng bawat isa hinggil sa mga isyung kinakaharap ng lipunang nangangailangan ng kagyat na tugon.

Kahingian ng panahon na maging mapagmatyag ang bawat isa sa mga palisiyang ipatutupad ng bagong administrasyon kung saan ang lagi't laging tanong ay “para kanino.”

Dahil higit pa sa pag-uulat at paglalahathala ng mga artikulo, larawan at dibuho, hamon sa mga kabataan ang tumalima sa mandatong bitbitin ang laban sa mga lansangan kasama ang sambayanan. 

UKOL SA PABALAT

Dibuho ni Chester Higuit

Punong Patnugot Mary Joy Capistrano Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon Tagapamahalang Patnugot Jiru Rada Patnugot sa Balita Arra Francia Patnugot sa Grapiks Guia Abogado Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya Karen Ann Macalalad Kawani John Reczon Calay / Jan Andrei Cobey / Kenneth Gutlay / Chester Higuit Pinansiya Amelyn Daga Tagapamahala sa Sirkulasyon Garry Gabales Sirkulasyon Amelito Jaena / Glenario Ommamalin Mga Katuwang na Kawani Trinidad Gabales / Gina Villas Kasapi UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad) / College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon Telefax 981-8500 lokal 4522 Online kule1516@gmail.com / www.philippinecollegian.org / fb.com/philippinecollegian / twitter.com/phkule / instagram.com/philippinecollegian

BALITA 3

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

PAG-ASA NG BAYAN Kenneth Gutlay Nanawagan ang iba't ibang mga sektor sa administrasyon ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na tuparin ang kanyang mga pangako ng pagbabago sa pamamagitan ng pagsulong sa People's Agenda for Change, isang dokumento na nagtatala ng mga isyu at panukala mula sa iba't ibang sektor ng bansa. Bahagi ng agenda na ito ang Marginalized Filipino Children’s Agenda na sumasakop sa pangangailangang pangkalusugan at pang-edukasyon ng mga bata, libre at kalidad na edukasyon, at wastong pabahay at pasahod. Ayon sa National Nutrition Council, 4 na milyong bata sa Pilipinas ang apektado ng malnutrisyon. Bukod pa dito, sa isang pag-aaral ng Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey noong 2013, 4 na milyong kabataan din ang outof-school noong 2013.

Progresibong pagbabago, hamon ng mga sektor kay Duterte KAREN ANN MACALALAD

Nakasaad din sa adyenda ang pagpapawalang bisa sa Visiting Forces Agreement na nagbibigay pahintulot sa mga dayuhang militar na pumasok sa bansa. Dapat umanong magkaroon ng isang multisectoral na komisyon upang aralin ang kasalukuyang mga kasunduang pang-ekonomiya at depensa kasama ang mga dayuhan.

Kalakip ng adyenda ang suspensyon ng nilagdaang Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement noong 2014 na nagkakaloob sa Estados Unidos ng mga lugar upang pagtayuan ng pasilidad ng mga militar, at pagpapaigting ng United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea bilang balangkas upang tugunan ang suliranin sa teritoryal na katubigan ng Pilipinas.

SIDEBAR 2

EDUKASYON

Makamasang patakaran Sa pagtitiyak na abot-kaya ang mga batayang serbisyo sa mga mamamayan, naghain din ang mga sektor ng mga palisiya at programang maglulunsad nito: (tingnan ang Sidebar 2)

dokumento. Reporma rin sa elektoral na sistema ng bansa ang nakikitang paraan sa adyenda upang magkaroon ng higit na representasyon ang mga sektor sa paggawa ng mga desisyon at panukala.

Lumala ang krisis at pagdurusa ng mga Pilipino sa nakaraang 30 taon gawa ng mga palisiyang nagsisilbi sa interes ng iilan, ani Zarate. Hindi dapat umanong kaligtaan ng mamamayan na nagpapatuloy ang pwersa ng reaksyonaryo at konserbatibo sa bagong termino, aniya.

“Ang pagbabago ay hindi hinain sa hapag. Sa katunayan, kailangan nating ipaglaban ang pagbabago,” pahayag ni Zarate. 

Itaas ang badyet higit pa sa 6 porsyento ng GDP o 20 porsyento ng nasyonal badyet Moratorium sa pagtataas ng matrikula at iba pang dagdag na bayarin Pagbabasura ng K-12 program

Itaas ang badyet higit pa sa 5 porsyento sa pampublikong serbisyo Karagdagang 25,000 barangay health stations sa kasalukuyang 17,000

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SERBISYONG PANGKALUSUGAN

Pagpapatigil sa mga demolisyong walang konsultasyon at disenteng relokasyon Taasan ang pasilidad para sa mga walang bahay

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SIDEBAR 1

Source: KARAPATAN monitor mula Hulyo 2010 hanggang Setyembre 2015

*tala noong Setyembre 2015

PABAHAY

Pagkakaroon ng national broadband network at minimum speed na 1.5 mbps

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BIKTIMA Extrajudicial Killing 294 Enforced Disappearance 28 Frustrated Extrajudicial Killing 318 Political Prisoners* 555

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Upang magkaroon ng ekonomiyang magbibigay benepisyo sa lahat, hangad ng mga sektor ang pagkakaroon ng tunay na repormang agraryo sa lupa, pambansang industriyalisasyon, at pagpapaunlad sa agham at teknolohiya ng bansa.

Una ang pamamahagi ng lupain sa mga magsasaka, at pagsusulong ng Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill na layuning wakasan ang monopolyong pagmamayari sa lupa ng iilang mga pamilya tulad ng Cojuangco-Aquino at Arroyo.

Pagbuo sa Department of Fisheries at pagbasura sa Amended Fisheries Code na nagpapataw ng malalaking multa mula P50,000 to P100,000 sa mga maliliit na palaisdaang walang lisensya ang para sa mga mangingisda.

Ikalawa ang pagpapatigil sa mapanira

Kasama sa dokumento ang pagkondena sa mga opisyal na sangkot sa isyu ng Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) at Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) na idineklarang unconstitutional ng Korte Suprema. Napunta ang pampublikong pondo sa mga bogus na organisasyon sa ilalim ng PDAF, habang sa piling mga proyekto na hindi nakasaad sa General Appropriations Act inilagak ang pondo ng DAP. Pagbaba sa debt-servicing at pagtataas ng subsidiyo sa mga batayang serbisyo para sa mga Pilipino ang ilan pa sa kahilingang nakasaad sa



Agraryong reporma at regularisasyon

Pagkondena sa korapsyon

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Isinusulong ng mga sektor ang pagpapatuloy ng usaping pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng rebolusyonaryong grupong National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) at ng pamahalaan upang wakasan ang magkatunggaling interes at resolbahin ang ugat ng kahirapan sa bansa.

Sa kabila ng mga kasunduang pangkapayapaan, patuloy ang paglabag sa karapatang pantao sa bansa. Nakasaad sa Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) noong 1998 ang pagbigay proteksyon sa bawat mamamayan, habang nasa Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) noong 1995 naman ang mga proseso ng pangkapayapaang usapan ng magkabilang panig.

Pambansang soberanya

at iligal na pagmimina sa komunidad ng mga katutubo at takdaan ang mining operations at explorations lalo na sa Bicol Region. Panawagan din ang pagtitigil ng militarisasyon sa mga paaralan ng Lumad, na nagresulta sa mga kaso ng pagbabakwit sa ilalim ng administrasyong Aquino.

Isa pang layunin ang pagbuhay sa mga lokal na industriya upang makalikha ng mas maraming trabaho, at pagkakaroon ng P16,000 national monthly minimum wage para sa nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno at pribadong sektor.

Kasalukuyang P9,000 hanggang P10,000 ang sahod ng mga manggagawa, higit na mababa sa P33,500 na tinatayang family living wage ng IBON Foundation.

Pinatatampok din sa adyenda ang dagdag na badyet para sa agham at teknolohiya upang paunlarin ang mass transport system at domestikong imbensyon. Sa isyu ng enerhiya, ipinanukala ang pagkakaroon ng renewable energy sources at pagpapataw ng moratorium sa mga coal-fired power plants na nakadadagdag sa polusyon.

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Pangmatagalang kapayapaan

May mga inaresto at pinatay ring miyembro ng NDFP peace panel na protektado ng JASIG, tulad ng pagkakakulong ni Alan Jazmines noong 2011 at pamamaslang kay Sotero Llamas noong 2006. (tingnan ang Sidebar 1)

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IGINIIT NG MAHIGIT 1,000 KATAO ang pagpapatupad ng makamasang palisiya sa ilalim ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa pamamagitan ng paglatag ng tinaguriang “adyenda ng bayan” sa National People’s Summit, ika-29 ng Hulyo sa UP Diliman Film Center.

Nakapaloob sa adyenda ang 15 programang mungkahi ng mga grupo para sa pangulo at mga mambabatas. Kasama nito ang detalyadong layunin para sa unang 100 araw ng pamumuno ni Duterte sa mga aspeto ng pangkapayapaan at karapatang pantao, ekonomiya, palisiyang panlabas at soberanya, patakarang panlipunan, at mabuting pamamahala.

“Sa pagkakahalal ni Duterte nagbukas ang maraming oportunidad dahil sa mga positibong pahayag [niya] ukol sa problema sa lupa ng mga magsasaka at katutubo, kontraktwalisasyon ng mga manggagawa, at usaping pangkapayapaan,” ani Carlos Zarate, kinatawan ng Bayan Muna Partylist.

INTERNET

4 BALITA

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

Rounds of demolitions end Aquino’s term DANIEL BOONE

AROUND 240 FAMILIES WERE LEFT homeless after a round of demolitions in Culiat and Tandang Sora, Quezon City (QC) were conducted to give way to private establishments, according to urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay).

Demolition forces tore down the houses of 100 families in Culiat on June 4, while around 140 families were forced out of their homes in Tandang Sora on June 24, within a month before former President Benigno Aquino III stepped down from office.

Even without a court order, the demolition forces tore down houses in Culiat by presenting “fake land titles”, said Kadamay Vice Chairperson Estrelita Bagasbas. The demolition team, together with a number of police officers, left seven residents injured and three hospitalized.

Demolition threats in Culiat began in March but was halted after an agreement with the local government guaranteed that resettlement areas must be fixed beforehand. However, several military men occasionally inspected the area to disconnect the power and water source, Bagasbas said.

Meanwhile, displaced residents of Tandang Sora were forced to either go to their nearest relative or sleep in the streets since authorities guarded and abused residents going near the area, Bagasbas added.

Kadamay slammed the recent demolitions because no relocation site and prior notice were given to the residents, while the names in the land titles presented were not registered in the Quezon City Hall. The group

identified the city development plan of QC Mayor Herbert Bautista behind the demolitions, which aims to attract private investments.

In 2010, Bautista spearheaded the Comprehensive Land Use Program (CLUP) which creates five growth centers in Novaliches-Lagro, Balintawak, Cubao, Batasan-National Government Center (NGC), and QC-Central Business District (CBD). The areas of Tandang Sora and Culiat fall under the Batasan-NGC, which targets to cater the needs of its neighboring communities by building new commercial establishments.

Cubao and Balintawak are envisioned to become transport and food hubs in the city, and the Novaliches-Lagro growth center will function as another commercial hotspot. The QC-CBD is envisioned to be the country’s knowledge capital by further developing the area.

The construction of the QC-CBD has affected the most residents, which spans a total of 340 hectares from East and North Triangle to the UP-Science and Technology Parks, Kadamay stated. The National Housing Authority (NHA) has partnered with several investors including Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) which is expected to build more malls around the area.

Since 2012, thousands of families from Barangay Central and San Isidro have been evicted from their homes, while residents along San Roque have already barricaded four times since 2010 to prevent their homes from getting bulldozed.

Under Aquino’s watch, 30 communities were demolished killing 21, while around 1.4 million individuals nationwide remain subject to eviction because of

Worker buried alive in UP Baguio digging site J O H N R E C Z O N C A L AY A CONSTRUCTION WORKER DIGGING a hole at the construction site of the UP Baguio (UPB) Residence Hall Extension was accidentally buried alive last June 14.

Arthur Danis, 45, of Angeles City, Pampanga was trapped in the excavation site after a sudden soil collapse in the area caused by heavy rains.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Cordillera was informed of the incident and immediately sent a rescue team to the site. Danis was dug out after one and a half hours, but died while being rushed to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

Local police reports later confirmed that APO General Construction, the firm in charge of the construction site, did not have a Construction and Safety Health Program (CSHP) permit. The CSHP permit contains specific safety policies implemented in the construction site, penalties and sanctions for violations, as well as orientation, training of workers on the program, and a proper waste disposal plan.

Construction firms must submit their CSHP permits to DOLE then forward to

the City Building and Architecture office for the processing of a building permit.

APO has since been ordered to halt its operations until it meets the proper safety guidelines set by the local government.

The unfortunate accident proves how workers are still deprived of the basic rights they deserve under a system of oppression and exploitation,” UPB-Alliance of Concerned Students said in a statement.

“Danis has fallen victim to the indignation of being a laborer in a country which refuses to uphold their rights and welfare,” according to the student group.

The UPB University Student Council led a donation drive to help the victim’s family. The faculty and administration of the university will also provide financial aid.

Another report in the campus stated that 53-year-old Plano Builders welder Emilio Abenajar of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija was found unconscious inside the men’s room at the College of Social Sciences building. He was rushed to the hospital but did not survive. 

PURGING Kenneth Gutlay

A Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team leads the demolition of Barangay 8, Block 51 in Dagat-Dagatan, Caloocan, June 27. More than 300 families were evicted out of the 7,000-square meter area, designated by the National Housing Authority as a relocation area for informal settlers in 1983. Urban poor group Kadamay condemned this row of demolition orders, describing it as vicious and illegal due to the lack of relocation sites when the demolition occurred.

private firms claiming the area, data from Kadamay showed. The Aquino administration is complicit to the problem, and has engaged into 14 public-private partnership projects that only aggravated the plight of the poor, the group added. “[Para kay Aquino], basta yumaman ang mga kapitalista, ‘di bale nang i-demolish kami … mga basura raw kami sa paningin ng mga turista kaya dapat ipatapon sa malalayo,” Bagasbas

said. Many families were relocated into communities that lack jobs and are vulnerable to calamities like floods and earthquakes, she added.

The relocation site in Kasiglahan Village in Montalban, Rizal lies among two major fault lines posing danger to those living near the area. On top of this are the unaffordable amortization fees for the new homes, which only four percent of the relocated families can pay, according to the NHA.

On June 30, San Roque residents led by the September 23 Movement, another urban poor group, mobilized in front of Aquino’s home in Times Street to protest the administration’s negligence of the poor.

They urged the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte to ensure that “there will be no demolition without relocation, and the relocation program should be onsite if not in-city and with access to employment opportunities and basic social services.” 

UPV’s first summa cum laude is new SR DANIEL BOONE

UP DILIMAN (UPD) MS APPLIED Math student Raoul Danniel Manuel will represent at least 55,000 UP students in the Board of Regents (BOR) as the next student regent (SR) for the academic year 2017 to 2018.

A total of 50 student councils arrived at a consensus decision in selecting Manuel as the students’ sole representative to the university’s highest policy-making body during the 42nd General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) held at UP Los Baños from July 16 to 17.

Manuel, who graduated as UP Visayas’ first summa cum laude in 2015, is the former chairperson of Katipunan ng Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (KSUP), the only alliance of student councils in UP. “The SR must be the face of the student movement in UP. Without the backing of the studentry, the SR is powerless,” said Manuel in his vision statement.

Should Manuel fail to perform his duties as SR, second nominee Omid Javier Siahmard from UP Mindanao or third nominee Josiah Hiponia from UPD will assume the post, according to the Codified Rules for

SR Selection (CRSRS). Manuel will take his official oath on July 28, the same day incumbent SR Miguel Enrico Pangalangan is set to formally end his term.

As SR, Manuel is mandated to be the voice of UP students amid issues such as privatization of the university’s assets and reforms in the General Education (GE) curriculum. He has vowed to ensure proper information dissemination on national and UP issues by conducting summits and educational discussions.

“The office, in order to uphold its mandate of genuinely representing the marginalized sectors, should be responsive to the call of the times,” he said.

Meanwhile, seven resolutions were forwarded to the Office of the SR (OSR) including the abolition of the eUP Project and the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).

Introduced in 2012, the eUP is the P750 million flagship project of President Alfredo Pascual that aims to integrate online system operations throughout all UP units.

The assembly tagged eUP as a way of commercializing education since a large

stash of the project’s budget went to profit huge corporations like PLDT and Smart.

The assembly also moved to abolish the ROTC program, a component of the National Service Training Program (NSTP). The student councils believe that the ROTC program is being used as an excuse to the presence of military in UP campuses like in Mindanao.

The militarization in the university was heightened by the ROTC’s approval, Pangalangan said in his end-of-term report. Furthermore, he added that the same brigade handling ROTC is involved in harassing indigenous people.

The five other resolutions demand the next UP president to support Student Agenda and intensifying campaigns against K-12 and GE Reforms. On top of these are proposed resolutions to support peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front, to take part in the Kabataan Para sa Pagbabago campaign, and, lastly, to participate in the mob in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 25. 

BALITA 5

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

UPD grads call to revive peace talks C A M I L L E J O Y C E L I S AY CALLS TO REVIVE PEACE TALKS with rebel groups in the country disrupted UP Diliman’s 105th Commencement Exercises on June 26 at the UP Amphitheatre, where a total of 4,552 graduates formally accepted their degrees.

Student groups, led by University Student Council (USC) Chairperson Christian Bryle Leaño, staged the lightning rally near the end of the ceremony to urge the graduating class of 2016 to support negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines, National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and National People’s Army to address the perennial issue of poverty in the country.

“Ang pagtutulak sa mga komprehensibong reporma at pagdedepensa sa karapatang pantao sa pamamagitan ng peace talks ay isang pagkilos na maaari nating pagtulungan sa loob at labas ng unibersidad,” said Leaño.

Most of the country’s poorest provinces have been tagged for having insurgents, making peace unattainable within the region. Leaño explained how these

issues can only be solved by looking at the root causes of the armed struggle.

We have to support the incoming administration’s willingness to launch peace talks in order to achieve change that is truly oriented toward the masses, he added.

Other students also held placards to commemorate the 10th year since UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan went missing. Karen and She were conducting research for their thesis in Hagonoy, Bulacan when armed men abducted the two. Retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, the alleged mastermind of their abduction, remains detained at Batangas Provincial Jail.

The graduation rites, led by UP President Alfredo Pascual and UPD Chancellor Michael Tan, saw the awarding of medals to doctoral candidates and the campus’ 30 summa cum laude graduates. Among the pool of graduates were 325 magna cum laude and 936 cum laude awardees.

In his keynote speech for the graduates, Pascual stressed the

importance of general education (GE) subjects in a UP student’s academic track. His administration, however, has seen the reduction of GE units in all UP units excluding UPD to a minimum of 21 units from the current required 45 units.

“Sa ilang taon natin dito sa UP, ating nasaksihan ang pambansa at sektoral na mga neoliberal na atake sa edukasyon. Nariyan ang paglala ng komersyalisasyon at pagnenegosyo ng ating edukasyon sa porma ng Socialized Tuition System at Other School Fees,” Leaño said.

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy graduate Alexander Atrio Lopez, meanwhile, likened the plight of each UP student to the launching of the Philippines’ first microsatellite, “Diwata.”

“When we are inspired, we do our best work. When we do our best work, we can offer the best service to our countrymen, which is after all, what Oble is known to symbolize. It is in the interest of society that we put each other in situations that will inspire us to do our best work for the people,” said Lopez.

CHEd OKs fee hike on 304 HEIs A R J AY I VA N G O R O S P E

ALMOST TWO IN 10 OF THE country’s private higher education institutions (HEIs) are set to increase tuition and other school fees (TOFI) in the academic year 2016 to 2017, upon the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) approval of fee hike in 304 out of 1,659 private universities last June 6.

Among the HEIs with approved TOFI, 280 will increase tuition by an average of P43.39 or 5.10 percent, while 252 will collect other school fees (OSF) higher by 5.41 percent or P115.58.

To oppose CHEd’s approval, various progressive student and youth groups led by Kabataan Partylist, Anakbayan, and the National Union of Students of the Philippines trooped to the commission to condemn the hikes.

LAKBAYANI Chester Higuit Dumating sa UP Diliman ang humigit kumulang 3,500 delegado ng Manilakbayan mula sa Mindanao at Timog Katagalugan bilang bahagi ng "Rural People's Caravan for Land and Peace," ika-23 ng Hulyo. Layunin nilang makilahok sa SONA ng Bayan, ika-25 ng Hulyo, kasama ang iba't ibang mga sektor upang ipanawagan ang pagsusulong ng tunay na repormang agraryo at ang pagpapatuloy ng usaping pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas at ng National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

“We could see how education is treated as a commodity with another round of tuition fee increases approved

by CHEd. As education now comes with a high price, students will face more trouble in pursuing their studies,” said Rise for Education Convener Shari Oliquino.

Annual increase Section 5, Article III of CHEd Memorandum Order 3, series of 2012 allows for the increase of fees in private HEIs as long as the school’s administration can guarantee the conduct of consultations with their stakeholders on the February preceding the academic year with the proposed TOFI. However, these consultations have long been touted by youth groups as

bogus, which CHEd uses to circumvent current tuition regulations.

The commission should be ashamed of itself for approving tuition hikes despite verified complaints filed by students against their universities’ administrations, said Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Jane Elago.

The National Capital Region (NCR) accounted for the most number of HEIs with TOFI at 70 schools, set to hike tuition by an average of P68.44 per unit and OSFs with P57.52. Under the regular 15-unit load in UP Diliman (UPD) per semester, this increase prompts an additional payment of P1026.60 for each student. continued on page 11

University Student Council Chairperson Bryle Leaño

SERVE THE PEOPLE leads a lightning rally protest during the 105th UP Diliman Kenneth Gutlay

Commencement Exercises, June 26. The protesters called for the surfacing of UP students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan who were abducted by suspected military agents exactly a decade prior to the commencement ceremonies.

The commencement exercises ended with a traditional shifting of sablay from the right to left shoulder, similar to the moving of the academic cap’s tassel with graduates wearing togas. The two-minute lightning rally was immediately followed by the singing of UP Naming Mahal.

“Ating suportahan ang pagtutulak ng tunay na pagbabagong nakabatay sa pangangailangan ng sambayanan — ang sambayanang sinikap na ilapit, ipakilala, at ipayakap sa atin ang militante at makabayang tradisyon ng isang edukasyong naglilingkod sa sambayanan,” Leaño added. 

Ilang mga cross-registrant, hindi nakapag-enrol sa UPD HANS CHRISTIAN MARIN NAPILITANG LUMIPAT NG IBANG constituent units (CUs) ang ilang mga cross-registrant sa UP Diliman (UPD) matapos umanong mapuno ang mga slot sa lahat ng klase sa Diliman para sa midyear term ngayong taon.

Nagmula pa ang mga crossregistrant ng UPD sa mga kampus tulad ng UP Mindanao (UPMin), UP Cebu (UPC), at UP Tacloban. Sa halip na makapagrehistro sa naturang kampus, napilitan ang ilan na lumipat sa UP Manila, UP Los Baños, at UP Baguio para makapag-enrol ngayong midyear.

Karaniwang kumukuha ang mga estudyante ng mga kurso tuwing midyear upang mabawasan ang kanilang pang-akademikong pasanin na kailangan upang makapagtapos sa unibersidad. Pinipili ng iba na magrehistro sa ibang CU bilang cross-registrant sa tuwing walang inaalok na klase sa sarili nilang yunit.

Ngayong midyear, hindi naglaan ang ilang CUs ng mga kursong General Education (GE), samantalang wala namang binuksang klase sa UPMin. Nagkaroon ang UPMin ng problema sa paglaan ng sweldo sa kanilang mga guro at empleyado, dahilan upang magkulang ang badyet para sa pagbubukas ng mga klase ngayong midyear. Sa 98 na miyembro ng faculty at 75 na empleyado, 15 guro at 39 na empleyado ang hindi napaglaanan ng sweldo, ayon kay UPMin Chancellor Sylvia Concepcion.

“We call for the allocation of more plantilla items for UP Mindanao. If those

54 employees will be given plantilla items, the lump sum can now be used in order to fund the midyear classes,” ani UPMin University Student Council (USC) Vice Chairperson Irson Doria.

Mas marami ang cross-registrants sa UPD ngayong midyear kumpara noong nakaraang taon, ayon kay UPD USC Vice Chairperson Beata Carolino.

Isa si Mary Rose Ampoon, 2nd Year, BS Computer Science ng UPC, sa mga cross-registrant sa UPD na nahirapang makahanap ng klase dahil mas prayoridad sa pagrerehistro ang mga estudyante ng Diliman. Ayon sa kanya, hindi dapat ibinibigay sa mga estudyante ang pasanin lalo na’t kakulangan ito ng CUs. “It’s understandable that UPD students get the first priority.

However, the number of slots dedicated to cross-registrants should be cleared out before we even fly in here,” ani Ampoon.

Bagaman may mga estudyante na nahirapang makapag-enrol, patuloy lamang ang pagtulong ng mga CUs sa mga cross-registrant lalo na ang mga may kailangan ng yunit upang makapagtapos, ayon kay UP Cebu Registrar Purita Baltazar.

“A general survey on academic needs will be helpful to have an idea of the demand. However, if we lack the resources to pursue education, then this will be futile. We need sufficient funds and a strong administrative will to attain the right to education,” ani Carolino. 

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

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PROMISED LAND

Illustration by R Page design by J

DANIEL BOONE FARMERS TIRELESSLY WORK EVERY DAY TO PUT FOOD on every Filipino table. Ironically, they are among the poorest and most vulnerable to human rights violations (HRV) and exploitation, and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) under the Aquino term seems to dismiss the fact that most of the farmers are landless.

Hopes were high when Rafael Mariano, the former chairperson of peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), was appointed as the new DAR Secretary. He was the first farmworker to head the unit -- a farmer's son who witnessed at a young age the struggles faced by his kin.

The DAR was mandated to lease lands to farmers through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which aims to “grant landless farmers ownership of agricultural lands” by issuing Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA), a document attesting the land as their own.

A total of 7.8 million hectares was set to be distributed until 1998, but the passage of a law amending CARP and allocating additional funds for the program extended the deadline for another ten years. The distribution was prolonged further under the Arroyo administration in 2008 with the creation of the CARP Extension with Reforms (CARPER).

Peasant groups denounced the CARPER because the landholdings of the Arroyos, Cojuangcos, and other landlords remained untouched in its provisions. Moreover, the CARPER allows landowners to reacquire their land after a 10-year retention period.

While 88 percent or 6.9 million hectares have already been distributed, 44 percent of it are public lands which farmers had to pay for using, KMP stated. Land-grabbing and CLOA cancellations were also rampant during Aquino’s watch along with HRV cases, exacerbating the peasants’ struggles.

Only 9.7 percent of CARP beneficiaries have been fully paid, while majority of the remaining 90 percent had their CLOAs cancelled, according to 2014 data of the Land Bank of the Philippines. More than 2.9 million hectares of private lands are yet to be distributed, including the haciendas in Tarlac, Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, and Negros.

Meanwhile, drought-stricken peasants in North Cotabato picketed in April to beg for food from the government. Governor Lala Mendoza, however, ordered 150-strong policemen to disperse them, later killing three farmers. A month earlier, Hacienda Luisita workers decried abuse and bulldozing of more than 20 hectares of their crops.

As the new DAR secretary, Mariano aims to institutionalize the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) which farmers believed will put an end to CARP and distribute the lands. Now that nine out of 10 farmers remain landless, the call to abolish CARP and dismantle land monopoly has never been as timely.

The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is urged to prioritize the distribution of idle lands to landless farmers to cover for all the flaws of the previous administrations. The GARB was filed in 2008 but has still not been signed into law until now. 

SYSTEMIC CHANGE MEGAN AGLAUA

SO MANY PROBLEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES HAVE LONG PREVAILED that their existence have become the norm. For instance, the country’s internet speed, the second slowest in Asia, seems not to bother 43.5 percent of the population who call themselves netizens.

The creation of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) would place the much needed attention on our technology infrastructure. Recent news of the $81 million launder between the Philippines and Bangladesh, and the Commission on Elections website leak further emphasized the need to establish an nformation communications stronghold that will secure the country’s databases from being accessible to cybercriminals.

Signed by former President Benigno Aquino III, Republic Act No. 10844 split the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) into what is now the DITC and Department of Transportation.

Attorney Rodolgo Salalima was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to be the Secretary of DICT. With 40 years of experience in the telecommunications industry under his name, Duterte believes him to be an expert in the field.

As indicated in the RA 10844, the secretary, three undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries are required to have at least seven years of expertise in whichever information and communications technology, information technology service management, information security management, cybersecurity, data privacy, e-commerce, or human capital development in the ICT aspect.

Five agencies will be incorporated under DICT: Information and Communications Technology Office, National Computer Center, National Computer Institute, Telecommunications Office, National Telecommunications Training Institute, and all DOTC communications branches.

Nevertheless, technology still has not reached far-flung and rural communities that are located in the peripheries. With the establishment of the ICT, the government should aim not only to improve, but also provide wider access to the people to better facilitate communication.

Moreover, the DICT must be used as an avenue that will give Filipinos the opportunity to hone their skills in the field of technology and make it a sustainable source of livelihood.

With the great need for the country to catch up with the world’s technocratic revolution, technology should spread across the nation holistically. With the DICT’s simultaneous entrance with the new administration, the department should serve as a genuine manifestation of systemic change. 

ROAD TO PROGRESS M I G U E L V I L L A L U N A C A A C B AY BEFORE THE DAANG MATUWID REGIME TOOK OVER IN 2010, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was perceived as the most corrupt government agency, according to a 2009 Pulse Asia survey. It is quite alarming that the department which was supposed to serve as proof of the country’s progress is the same department most unbridled with corruption.

Near Aquino’s term-end, a study by Social Weather Station’s Survey of Enterprises on Corruption showed how the agency’s reputation improved to “poor” from 2009’s “very bad.” Still, the department today is associated with corruption, excess of funds, and inefficiency.

Almost P1.2 trillion was allocated to DPWH from 2011 to 2016. In his last SONA, former President Benigno Aquino III claimed to use part of the department’s budget to fix and build a total of 12,184 km of road.

However, instead of prioritizing new roads for hard-to-reach areas, the government destroyed and reconstructed decent and usable road networks.

Meanwhile, the DPWH failed to address the worsening condition of Metro Manila traffic caused by inefficient public transport, and further aggravated by road works and sudden increase in the number of private cars. The department also engaged in several public-private partnership (PPP) programs like the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Expressway, scheduled to open in November — 13 months behind schedule.

To fix the department’s problems, President Rodrigo Duterte has tapped Las Piñas Rep. Mark Villar to be its secretary. A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Villar previously held executive positions in real estate agencies like Crown Asia and Vista Land. Villar’s appointment stirred mixed reactions as he is the son of real-estate moguls Senator Cynthia and former Senator Manuel Villar.

Before accepting the post, Villar has claimed authorship of 10 national laws in the 16th Congress as representative of Las Piñas, most of which are geared toward job generation and financial literacy. It remains a question whether Villar’s business expertise will fare well in handling road and infrastructure projects, a job many think should be given to engineers well-trained in the field.

As former senator, Villar’s father was accused of intervening with the construction of the C5-road extension to lead to his own properties. The younger Villar, however, vowed not to take advantage of his position.

As DPWH secretary, Villar is poised to be at the helm of what Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno calls the “golden age of infrastructure,” given a promising annual budget increase from 5.2 to 7 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the next six years. In turn, the government is expected to improve rural areas where development has been slow during the past administration. 

LATHALAIN 6-7

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t Benigno Aquino III’s Tuwid years was tedious, bumpy, e marginalized in isolation. nistration, will newly-elected erte continue driving the rough road, or will he stir better destination?

Rosette Abogado Jan Andrei Cobey

URBAN DECAY

OF BLOOD AND GOLD S A N N Y B O Y D . A FA B L E

SELL-OUT

MEGAN AGLAUA

SHEILA ANN ABARRA

WHEN PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE OPENED THE DOORS of his cabinet to the Philippine left, UP Diliman (UPD) Professor Judy Taguiwalo was easily one of the top picks to head the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Now secured with the post, Taguiwalo vows to transform the agency to one with “tunay na malasakit sa mahihirap.”

Still a staunch activist at the age of 66, Taguiwalo has proven her grasp on the sentiments of the country’s laborers when she founded the All-UP Academic Employees Union and All-UP Workers' Alliance. Both unions sought to reveal the plight of employees in the university and enjoin them to fight for their rights.

The labor situation in the country has long been a cause for alarm.

The number of unemployed workers stands at a rate of 6.1 percent this 2016. Meanwhile, four out of 10 workers are non-regular or hired by agencies, according to the National Statistics Office. Agency-hired workers are usually contracted for a period of only six months, making their jobs unstable and source of income uncertain.

The lack of job security has been one of the contributors to extreme cases of poverty in the country. Regardless of the banner projects implemented by the Aquino administration, such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), a conditional cash transfer program aimed to eradicate extreme poverty by investing in health and education, the poor still account for about 80 percent of the current population.

Various poverty eradication programs have been implemented before the 4Ps: National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services – National Community-Driven Development Program (Kalahi CIDSS-NCDDP).

However, these programs failed to address problems of the poor as they were mere band-aid solutions. Unemployment and contractualization remain rampant.

To address this, Taguiwalo’s first call of action is to “address the issue of widespread contractualization in the department.” Of DPWH’s employees, only 1,908 are regular while 9,632 employees are contractual. Around 60 percent or 16,855 of its total personnel are “job order” employees who do not receive compulsory benefits, according to Social Welfare Employees Association of the Philippines (SWEAP).

On the other hand, Taguiwalo is doubtful about the 4Ps as she believes the country needs a more sustainable program for the indigent, instead of a makeshift solution. The new secretary reiterated how inconsistent the program is in terms of choosing beneficiaries, since there are ineligible citizens who are still beneficiaries of the program. Thus, Taguiwalo has concluded that there is no need to institutionalize a stop-gap measure in terms of poverty alleviation.

Tasks such as financial assistance for the poor, providing quick and timely responses to emergencies, training DSWD personnel and improving its facilities to help the marginalized and exerting full efforts in the protection of the farmers and Lumad are Taguiwalo’s main agenda as DSWD secretary.

“We should legislate long-term economic initiatives that will create more sustainable jobs and livelihood,” Taguiwalo stressed. 

LEONOR BRIONES HAS LONG BEEN AN ADVOCATE OF BUDGET monitoring in the country. The UP Diliman National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) professor emeritus served as the national treasurer under former President Joseph Estrada.

She has further pursued her advocacy as lead convener of budget watchdog Social Watch Philippines.

Now poised to head the Department of Education, Briones is bent towards keeping the department’s budget in check to improve its efficiency.

But more than its efficient budget spending, Briones faces the even bigger burden of continuing the K-12 program, a curriculum reform the country’s education system has inherited from former President Benigno Aquino III’s term.

The latest class opening this June left behind around 400,000 Grade 10 students who were forced to drop out of school, according to youth group Kabataan Partylist. In here alone, the previous administration has failed in its task to provide quality and accessible basic education, and to lay foundations for life-long learning and service for the common good.

Students are obviously not the only ones affected by the curriculum shift, as K-12 is also deemed to displace 13,634 teaching and 11,456 non-teaching staff, according to the Commission on Higher Education. On top of these are the errors on new textbooks to be used for K-12.

There are around 1,300 errors on the Grade 10 textbook entitled "Diversity: Celebrating Multiculturism Through World Literature" alone, said Antonio Calipjo Go, academic supervisor at Marian School of Quezon City. While the figures are already working against K-12, newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte, along with Briones, has expressed support to continue the program.

Much preparation has already been made for K-12 and the law has long been overdue, hence it is too late to stop its implementation, said Briones.

As an expert on budget, Briones believes DepEd needs to prioritize solving poverty. According to her, with or without the K-12, there will always be a level of casualty because of poverty.

In doing so, Briones will seek an additional P45 billion funds for the department, a huge chunk of which is for the Alternative Learning System (ALS), a module-based program designed for learners who cannot access formal schooling. Parts of the fund will also be used to fix defects of the K-12 program.

Back in 2012, the government promised that the K-12 will resolve high unemployment and drop-out rates but data from DepEd itself show the opposite. In light of all of these, Briones should consider everyone’s right to education and lead the department to providing a better education system for the country. 

MINDANAO’S LUMAD INDIGENOUS PEOPLES (IPS) TOOK AN arduous journey in last year’s Manilakbayan to fight for their ancestral lands. Mining companies eyeing their mineral-rich Yutang Kabilin were said to be behind the harassment of Lumad communities and the brutal killings of their leaders — a grim reality many IPs, and the people in general, continue to face in light of modern development.

The mandate, then, for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is to oversee the utilization and conservation of the country’s rich natural resources, while protecting the IPs that are most vulnerable to modern changes. And so the appointment of Regina Lopez, or simply Gina Lopez, to spearhead this task stirred mixed responses given her skepticism toward mining.

Lopez, who hails from a prominent and powerful clan, believes that mining, including its supposedly responsible form, causes destruction and poverty. She has repeatedly stressed that the poorest areas in the Philippines are mining areas. Her anti-mining stint was highlighted by the Save Palawan Movement, a nationwide call she initiated to stop all mining operations in Palawan.

Active in civil society works, she was also the chairperson of both the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission and the ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation.

Her statements are not always without basis, as many would come to believe. Research by independent think tank IBON Foundation in 2015 states that the share of mining in our gross domestic product is a scanty 0.7 percent while it only employs 0.6 percent. Moreover, 97 percent of mineral production are exported “instead of being instrumental in the development of local industries.”

In the previous administration, the DENR boasted of its accomplishments under former Secretary Ramon Paje. Paje reported that the National Greening Program (NGP) reforested 1.6 million of the 8.97 million-hectare denuded area of the country — surpassing the combined 1.232 millionhectare reforestation by the government in the past 50 years. Paje also noted the decrease in the number of illegal logging hotspots from 197 to 23.

However, this laudable record was tainted by mining-related incidents recorded under Aquino’s term. Abusive mining by local and foreign corporations remained at large even with Aquino’s new mining policy stated in Executive Order 79, demanding larger government share from mining revenues while only reinforcing the already destructive Mining Act of 1995.

In 2012, volumes of leakage from Philex Mining contaminated two rivers in Benguet. Last year, six coal miners were buried by a landslide in a mine pit in Antique. Mindanao has become the ‘mining capital’ of the Philippines, prompting militarization and displacement of many communities like the Lumad.

Meanwhile, 52 environmentalists were killed under Aquino’s “Daang Matuwid” according to the environmental group Kalikasan PNE. A 2015 report by the international watchdog Global Witness also placed the country second to being the deadliest country in the world for environmental advocates.

At the heart of these issues, the DENR is crucial in safeguarding the rights of the IPs, whom the World Wildlife Fund call the “best conservers of forest biodiversity.” While taking a firm stand against the harmful effects of mining, Lopez has yet to prove if her acts will finally bring the Lumad closer to their ancestral lands. 

8 LATHALAIN

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

RESOLUTE STAND The Office of the Student Regent under Miguel Enrico Pangalangan’s helm C A M I L L E J O Y C E L I S AY

Photo and Page Design by Jiru Rada THE PAST ACADEMIC YEAR HAS seen countless attacks to the country’s only national university, some proposed by the very people within its ranks. Facing these challenges head on, the student regent (SR) has stood his ground in delivering critical stances that captured the voice of the student body.

Representing 55,000 students across UP’s eight constituent units, SR Miguel Enrico Pangalangan’s leadership went beyond his mandated constituents as he also addressed issues that hounded other sectors.

Pangalangan has pursued the Office of the Student Regent (OSR)’s legacy of collective action in order to disturb the status quo, a testament that this is the true formula in combatting repressive policies.

Mandate The SR’s place in the Board of Regents was borne out of the students’ struggle to gain representation in the university’s highest policy-making body. In 1987, students found their representative in the form of now senator Francis Pangilinan, the first SR granted with the right to vote in the board.

Although muddled with issues of corruption, administration intervention, and even division among student councils in the past, the office has practiced proactive vigilance to resolve internal problems.

Today, the office remains to be at the forefront of lobbying for the interests of the UP community.

“The SR is not one person. So we have to see if our victory in the Board is always paired with the students campaigning for their rights,” shared former SR Krista Iris Melgarejo.

Taking the lead A UP Visayas Tacloban nominee despite being a Diliman resident, Pangalangan was selected last year during the 40th General Assembly of

Pangalangan stood by the OSR’s mandate to fight for the rights and welfare of the students, from within and outside the board

Student Councils (GASC) from a pool of five nominees. His visibility among other UP units highlighted his brand of leadership: initiating multisectoral campaigns to forward a greater call.

Pangalangan started his term with the Department of Budget and Management’s proposal to slash UP’s 2016 budget by P2.2 billion — the largest decrease for its budgetary allocations. As one of the convenors of the Rise for Education (R4E) Alliance, he led the campaign opposing the budget cut. UP was then able to up its allocation by P900 million in the approved 2016 General Appropriations Act. The R4E was further used to mobilize student councils and organizations to promote the right to education. The alliance launched campaigns to junk the Socialized Tuition System, the tuition scheme currently used by the university to determine how much a student must pay based on socioeconomic background.

“Together with the OSR, we have built chapters of the R4E in the campuses of the UP System, enabling student councils, organizations and formations to more efficiently address issues pertaining to our right to education,” said KASAMA sa UP Chairperson Raoul Danniel Manuel.

The fires that razed the College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Association Food Center, Alumni Center, and the Faculty Center prompted the OSR to raise concerns on the structural maintenance of buildings in UP Diliman. The consecutive fire incidents highlighted the low maintenance of current facilities and emphasized the administration’s failure to provide enough budget for capital outlay, which includes the creation of new dormitories.

For his term, Pangalangan also recognized that the OSR is inseparable from the plight of other sectors. As the 700-strong Lumad community marched to UPD on October 26 last year, he stood at the frontline to welcome and support the indigenous

people’s nationwide campaign called Manilakbayan.

These, along with creating more noise to stop the abolition of Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, were some of the problems Pangalangan dealt with to show the inseparability of struggles beyond the university.

Dissenting voice Within the BOR, Pangalangan had to stand up to 11 other members whose decisions were often against what he fought for.

Pangalangan’s term saw the addition of more business schools to the university name. Private entities doling out donations to UP paved the way for the creation of UP Bonifacio Global City (BGC), UP Clark, and now the UP Technology Innovation in Cavite, which will be constructed through the donations of the Villar Foundation.

While we continue establishing schools that are for profiteering schemes, we lack equipment in the School of Health Sciences in Koronadal, where students have nothing to use but their imaginations to envision the experiments they need to do, said Pangalangan during his end-ofterm report.

UP education took another direct hit when the professors themselves moved to reduce the number of General Education courses to 21 to 36 units from the original 45 required units to finish a degree. The proposal is aligned with the basic education curriculum’s transition to the K-12 program, stating that the lessons taught in GE classes must have been tackled in the additional two years of K-12.

The board has already approved the proposal of all constituent units except UPD to reduce GE units, despite opposition from the SR. The students were not consulted; the creation of this policy would have been more participatory and inclusive if the students were a part of it, Pangalangan said.

“If all of the courses are possible to work out for everyone's benefit, if they included us on that basis, why do we still jump to the conclusion that we have to reduce the GE [units]?” he added.

Pangalangan was also pressured when he singly opposed the activation of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) in UP Mindanao and Baguio. The SR cited the lack of academic unit that would implement ROTC, relegating control and management of the program to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“We contested with the UP Mindanao implementation considering that Manilakbayan was a national campaign, so we need to scrutinize the integrity of the military especially in UP Mindanao,” he said.

We are outnumbered in the board, making it difficult to make the voices of students heard amid protests against antistudent policies and harassment from the state and military, Pangalangan said.

Despite his active participation in campaigns, Pangalangan was criticized for granting observer status to the National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Council (NCPAG SC) during the 41st General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) in UP Mindanao.

NCPAG SC failed to confirm their attendance on time, depriving them of the right to vote during the proceedings.

While Pangalangan clarified it was a standard operational procedure, students slammed the OSR for allowing mere technicalities to take away NCPAG’s voting rights. This impasse, however, should not undermine his term’s contribution to the student movement.

Pangalangan stood by the OSR’s mandate to fight for the rights and welfare of the students, from within and outside the board.

“We are done with our term, but we are not yet done serving the people,” Pangalangan said as he closed the 42nd GASC, the official end to his term. 

INFOGRAPHICS 9

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

P423.04 BILLION

3 OUT OF 20 TEACHING AND NON-TEACHING SCHOOL PERSONNEL ARE DISPLACED DUE TO K-12

PROPOSED BUDGET BY DEPED FOR K-12 TRANSITION IN 2016

P410.381 BILLION

AMOUNT APPROVED FOR DEPED IN 2016 9,691

f7 n billior the hiringhino g t fo n-teac P16.9 e s t e

167,614

lion the .3 bil ns for s and

P82get allocatiof classrooms in 2016

EMPLOYED PERSONNEL

DISPLACED PERSONNEL

lion .2 bil

P21

TEACHERS' SALARY SLASHED BY HALF

Bu Priv ?

E fun ers in rency ASTP Teach Are G for transpa d e it d au

NO.

APPROVED BUDGET FOR CHED IN 2016

P5.635 BILLION

TRANSITIONAL GAPS THE K-12 PROGRAM BY THE NUMBERS A R J AY I VA N G O R O S P E

P19,077

P40,000

TEACHERS' SALARY BEFORE K-12

TEACHERS' SALARY AFTER K-12

In the next five years, the country is set to transition into a 12-year basic education curriculum, prompted by the implementation of K-12 in school year 2016 to 2017. While the Department of Education (DepEd) lauded the supposed success of the latest class opening, the high number of dropouts, unfinished classrooms, and displaced teachers prove otherwise.

Data from DepEd, Commission on Higher Education, and youth groups including Kabataan Partylist (KPL) show how the education sector has yet to address the inadequacies in facilities, teachers, and budget that come with the implementation of K-12 (see Sumatotal).

At the onset, 400,000 Grade 10 students failed to enroll for the first year of senior high school (SHS), effectively making them dropouts.

In Batasan National High School in Quezon City alone, only 89 students enrolled out of 2,000 Grade 10 completers.

HIRED AND DEMOTED AS TEACHER I

SHS VOUCHER SUPPORT PROGRAM COVERAGE

99%

UNSUPPORTED

1% SUPPORTED P8,750 TO P22,500 VOUCHERS

P10.53 BILLION

Bud uction o onal lab tr cons ical-vocati ted mple techn rante tanc ms co o Assis sidy g o r 1 s ment n sub 1,89ber of clasnstruction overn TPE) tuitio G e m r th AS Nu nder co ted fo tion (G alloca te Educa ing and u a dget ds be

25,090

PROPOSED BUDGET BY THE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION FOR K-12 TRANSITION IN 2016

o Budg ers and n 16 teach nnel in 20 w o on ne s r pe ion for 103.2 maill limaterials l l i b otted struction P4.2 et all in Budg oks and ts and o tb x tuden es te e to S

“The country is, in reality, experiencing an educational crisis. Nakakagulat nga na tinatanggap na lang ng DepEd ang daandaang libo hanggang isang milyong dropout, saying that it's just natural,” said National Union of Students of the Philippines National Spokesperson Kevin Castro.

Despite the new administration’s willingness to continue the program, groups continue to call on President Rodrigo Duterte to halt K-12 and instead address the problems of the old 10-year education curriculum.

“The problems created by K-12 are not merely ‘birth pains’ but are deep-seated and hit hard at home. This is why we continue to call on the incoming Duterte administration to scrap the program and provide immediate remedial measures, including the option to let Grade 10 students have their high school diplomas already,” said KPL Rep. Sarah Elago. 

Infographic by Jan Andrei Cobey

7,917

PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE PHILIPPINES

2 MILLION

AVERAGE TUITION FEE IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF STUDENTS SET TO ENTER SHS IN SY 2016 TO 2017

ONLY

5,990

700,000 TO 1 MILLION

SHS-READY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

NUMBER OF STUDENTS FORCED TO ENROLL IN PRIVATE SHS-READY SCHOOLS

ONLY ABOUT

75% OF ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE K-12-READY

P30,000 TO P60,000 AVERAGE TUITION FEE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

P0

400,000

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF DROPOUTS

10 OPINYON

Lunes 25 Hulyo 2016

Larger than Life

In the event that I get killed DOMINIQUE SANTIAGO

MY MOTHER WOULD WARN me against writing this. A bad premonition, she’d say. Normally I’d agree with her, but circumstances are tough, and I wouldn’t want to leave the world without at least a goodbye. A bit of disclaimer before I start, though. I am just a regular college student bending her neck over backwards to finally get her diploma. I’m not a drug pusher nor a thief of any kind. The closest to stealing I’ve even been is forgetting to quote my favorite authors on Facebook posts.

But none of that seems to matter, hence this letter.

First, I’d like to have the grim picture of my death printed across the national dailies. This is exactly what the Inquirer did on July 24, when it devoted part of its front page to a picture of a woman cradling her partner who was killed by unknown vigilantes. The picture bore a striking resemblance to Michelangelo’s Pieta, where the Virgin Mary carried the lifeless Christ in her arms, her face struck

with agony and longing. I have no partner to carry me, but I’m sure my mom and dad would drive themselves mad when they see my bloody corpse. Capture that.

Then use this picture to remind everyone you know of the extent of this lawless war on drugs. Paint me as the hardworking college student gunned down by men only because she was walking down the street past ten o’clock. Tell the world about my family, how I have five younger siblings depending on the salary I would have gotten had I finished my degree. Use my memory to awaken the people who refuse to see that this is insane, that they are blinded by the prospect that change has indeed come.

I’d be smiling down from heaven knowing that you did.

Should my name get lost in the list of killed ‘criminals,’ highlight that a single death alone should already be a wake-up call. Tell them enough is enough. That change is nothing if it comes at the risk of losing due process. Remind

Should my name get lost in the list of killed ‘criminals,’ highlight that a single death alone should already be a wake-up call

them of how we so fervently called on the Indonesian president to spare the life of Mary Jane Veloso.

Thousands of Filipinos fought for her freedom back then. As of this writing, a total of 207 suspected drug dealers and pushers have been killed. What if half that number were all like Mrs. Veloso?

Or if they weren’t, who’s to say they wouldn’t change had they been given proper jobs and their basic rights?

Lastly, which is probably most important, there will be absolutely no crying from my friends or family who carelessly said that the declared war on drugs would never hurt them. This would probably be the best and worst time to say “Look at me now.” Don’t be hypocrites.

Grant me this final decency. 

Eulogy for the living MICHAEL LANGAN

I ALREADY FINISHED YOUR funeral speech in my head last month. It isn’t that special, though.

Just like anybody else’s, my message starts with me sobbing and ends with me sobbing more.

I’m sorry if this doesn’t make any sense right now, but it does, and it would when that day comes.

And how I dread that day. Up on the pulpit, sad eyes on me, expecting that I would break down at one point or another. Breaths abated and brows furrowed as they waited to sympathize with what agony I can muster. Ears expecting to hear how I resent how our relationship had become, how I wished I had more time to change things, be the perfect son you wanted me to be. But still, at that point, I wouldn't be or say things the way you wanted.

You see, we have a long history of a love-hate relationship. I wasn't a bad son, nor you as a father and husband. But some things just don't mesh together. I wanted to be different from you; escape the mold you made from me. Mom says I actually turned to be like you: hardheaded, distant, bitter.

Maybe that's why we clash; like poles do repel.

And mom did tell me more stories that do hurt from time to time. She tells stories of how you

were overjoyed with me coming to this world. You bought the nurses ice cream, screamed like a fool and bought balloons for your wife who just finished an eight-hour labor to a seven-pound baby, all bloodied and whimpering, fists held close to his face as if bracing for the worst the world could hit him.

Boy, did I cross off every item in your "perfect son" list; I turned out gay, atheist, an activist, delayed, student of the arts, you name it.

You even hated how my hair stood out. But this isn't just about me.

Just as the corners of your eyes and your mouth drooped through the years every time you looked at me, sinking ever so slightly downwards as time passed us both, so did my smile and my hope of having those tv-esque fatherson relationships.

Now that the lower bulb of your hourglass has more sand than the top, I'm looking forward at myself looking back on this time, time when I still have the option in changing what is soon to be what was.

I looked at your tired eyes looking at mine. It's an old chess game we play, maneuvers we've perfected. I've changed my play before. I've tried charging you head on, tried sacrificing all my

Maybe that's why we clash; like poles do repel

pieces, tried cornering you with my queen and my bishops, and the best we've come to is a draw.

Yet in this tepid balance, we find peace. People don't understand, but this is the best we can do.

Civility to a fault. Overly courteous and underhanded politeness.

I would still change my play.

I would grab my knights and try to fix things. Heck, now I would gladly lose to you. I find myself more and more wanting to face defeat if it meant keeping the sand in your hourglass from falling. I fear we have little time left in our game clock.

It is my turn. 

Polo F. Imperial

AND NOW MY WATCH IS ENDED I CAN NO LONGER REMEMBER THE FIRST time I stepped inside the Philippine Collegian's office at Vinzons 401. You see, I was summoned rather than invited, and I was suspicious of why the editorial board would want someone like me to write a column for a student paper notoriously known for its radical agenda.

I was then a sophomore Biology major. I used to be fat, pasty white, and socially awkward. I also fancied myself as apolitical, and though English is my preferred language, I harbored no illusions that my writing skills are anything near extraordinary. I came from a privileged upper-middle class family.

I knew almost nothing about the issues that the Collegian writers and artists were so passionate about. What could I hope to contribute?

Maybe it was a social experiment, I guessed then, and the latent adventurer in me could not resist saying yes. What have I got to lose? I didn't have any social life besides playing DOTA and board games with creatures like me. My parents are not very keen on grades. And most of all, I believed that I am immune to the Collegian's brand of advocacy journalism.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Week by week, month by month, I began to realize that what I signed up for was something that would possibly be the best decision I would ever make in my entire life in UP. I discovered the value of friendship and camaraderie that is based on mutual respect for each other's differences in ability, opinion, preferences, background, and disposition. Not the kind that simply accepts you for who you are, but the kind that allows you to become who you should and can be.

I also learned the value of hard work, however seemingly thankless and most especially when it is for something else other than personal gain. I met a lot of people, and gained many new friends, many of them poor and disposessed and robbed of their right to dignity and justice. I learned that there is a much bigger world outside the gated subdivision where I live in, cruel and unforgiving to almost everyone, except those who are obscenely wealthy and frighteningly powerful, though perhaps this is not so apparent for those of us so accustomed to a life of relative ease and privilege.

Most of all, I learned to be brave, to always choose and never apologize for doing the right thing, to fight for myself and for others, for we all share a single humanity that we must defend from those who seek to reduce us into docility and poison us with illusions of changing the world without shaking its very foundations.

Until now, the editors would not tell me why, of the 25,000 students of UP Diliman, they singled me out. To me, even now, all of it still seems so “nefarious secret organization captures mutant.” I have employed various stratagies to snare them into conversation traps where they might inadvertently tell me why they chose me, but they would each time foil all my attempts and give me cryptic smiles.

One thing is clear though. The Polo Imperial who first entered Vinzons 401 is not the same Polo Imperial who will be leaving it twelve months hence, and I am glad of the changes in my life brought about by my very brief stint here. For all of you who are reading this, I thank you for being with me in this adventure. And now, as they say in Castle Black, my watch is ended. 

OPINYON 11

Lunes 25 Hunyo 2016

STOP EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS! LEAGUE OF AUTHORS OF PUBLIC INTEREST SONGS (LAPIS) JULY 16, 2016

TAONG PUTIK Jiru Rada

inbox

However you may put it, the fact remains that the new administration has contributed to creating this environment that encouraged the recent spate of extrajudicial killings. Summary executions have already claimed numerous lives. This has to stop!

This impunity, this situation is dangerous! It will encourage criminal minds to use the situation to their benefit. They can also practically kill anyone, their victims for example, and put markings associating them to drug users or pushers and justifying the murder. Soon enough, maybe even activists who are critical of those in power may fall victim to this scheme.

This matter lies at the heart of everything we stand for as public interest musicians. We find it our compelling duty to the people and to the followers of our music to speak up on the issue and stand up against this killing spree.

Don’t get us wrong, we support without any doubt the efforts to solve the drug problem in the country. It is public interest to eradicate the drug menace. We, however, challenge the new administration to actively address the issue of these extrajudicial killings, unravel the truth behind these killings, hold the perpetrators accountable, and go instead for the root causes of the problem, including apprehending the big drug lords and their protectors.

We join groups in condemning the killing spree and this culture of impunity. We urge the Filipino public to remain vigilant in safeguarding people’s rights. #StopExtraJudicialKillings The League of Authors of Public Interest Songs or LAPIS is an organization of authors of public interest songs who seek to articulate through music issues that affect society and the everyday lives of people.

For more information, you may email us at lapisphilippines@gmail.com or text/call us at +63-932-8906690 

CHEd OKs fees hike on 304 HEIs FROM PAGE 5 “This new wave of tuition increases will undoubtedly force more students to stop schooling due to financial constraints,” said Elago.

De La Salle University, for instance, will have a tuition increase of 4.8 percent. Students at the university currently pay at least P60, 000 for tuition and OSFs every semester.

While fewer universities increased tuition this year compared to the 313 HEIs in 2015, 40 more raised their OSFs from last year’s 212.

Aside from their tuition, students also pay OSFs, which amount to thousands of pesos every school year and this increase would undeniably put an extra burden on their shoulders as well as their parents, said Oliquino, who also serves as a UPD University Student Council councilor.

Justifying hikes Amid the increases, CHEd announced the availability of various scholarship programs, such as 280,000 slots under the Student Financial Assistance Programs with a budget of P5.7 billion. The program specifically allots 40,000 slots for students under the government’s Expanded Student Grants-inaid Program for Poverty Alleviation.

“Ang mga scholarships ay maituturing na band-aid solutions lamang dahil hindi lahat ng mga mag-aaral ay makakatamasa nito at, higit sa lahat, mananatiling komersyalisado ang edukasyon, na nilalagyan ito ng presyo at hindi nakikita bilang isang batayang karapatan,” said Oliquino.

The Department of Education (DepEd) meanwhile announced that 10.21 percent or 1,232 of the total 12,072 private elementary and secondary schools around the country have increased tuition for AY 2016 to 2017.

“Marami pa rin ang hindi makakapasok ng mga pamantasan. Patuloy dapat yung panawagan na itigil ang commercialization, ibasura ang tuition at other school fees, at siyempre ‘yung pagtindig sa edukasyon na nationalist, scientific, and mass oriented,” Oliquino said.

We need to stand united in fighting for our right to education and move collectively in order to achieve an education accessible to all, she added. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWEST MEMBER

ALIONA SILVA PHOTOGRAPHER

FINANCIAL STATEMENT Philippine Collegian Academic Year 2014-2016 COLLECTIONS

Estimated Collections a

Balance as of June of the academic year First Semester Second Semester Summer/Midyear Interest income Accounts receivable from scholarships

Actual, AY 2014-2015 d

Estimated Collections a

P 1,548,505.44

Actual, AY 2015-2016 d P 2,059,420.98

1,555,272 1,473,480 600,840 b 0 0

1,639,952 1,444,792 182,936 17,538.89 42,365

1,455,272 1,323,480 584,064 24,013.89 38,128.50

1,757,240 1,605,060 624,640 26,506.95 c 0

TOTAL

P 3,629,592.00

P 4,876,089.33

P 3,424,958.39

P 6,072,867.93

EXPENSES

Approved budget

Printing Honoraria Food Subsidy Training and seminars Editorial Examinations Equipment Utilities Office Supplies and other operating expenses Literary Folio and Other Journals Student refund TOTAL BALANCE

1,700,000 750,000 200,000 500,000 5,000 250,000 50,000 150,000

Approved budget 1,354,850 (345,150)* 560,498.03 106,286.84 171,800 (208,305.80)* e 5,000 0 6,000 46,644.79

450,000

1,700,000 800,000 150,000 500,000 5,000 50,000 10,000 100,000 0

1,897.50 P4,055,000

978,864.16 (708,485.84)* 769,835 173,840.44 e 154,999.57 48,800 e 156,506.25 (50,000)* e 4,500 52,046.68

P2,806,432.96 P2,069,656.37

NOTES a - based on the estimated collections of the Accounting Office for the respective academic years b - Midyear 2014 c - total interest income for the four quarters of the academic year 2015-2016 d - based on the status of fund of the Accounting Office for the respective years e - budget realignment requested * item earmarked amount minus the actual expenses

2,594.80 P3,515,000

P 3,100,472.74 P2,972,395.19

Illustration by John Kenneth Zapata