UJP-UP Tambuli Isyu Blg. 10 (March 13, 2015)

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Photo by UP APERTURE

For sale: livelihood; rights excluded

By INNA CABEL and BEI ZAMORA

WHEN BONG FELICIO ACQUIRED A permit to start his own kiosk in University of the Philippines (UP)-Diliman, he left behind 27 years of running from the police because he sold his food illegally.

That simple piece of paper was more than just a business permit - to his eyes, it was a golden ticket to a stable living for him and his family.

Felicio hasn’t been strolling through a oncein-a-lifetime trip though, he has been working to pay his way out instead.

For 10 years since then, he has always gone the same way.

It has always been a routine to him: wake up early, get dressed, eat breakfast, kiss his two children temporary goodbyes before they went to school, then travel an hour to work.

He sells banana cue in front of UP Diliman’s Faculty Center, cities away from his home in Bulacan, but he doesn’t mind the

distance that much. Neither does he mind going through all this effort for minimum wage.

But on February 9, the problem of the past would come back to haunt him-and all others like him.

The UP Business Concessions Office (UP BCO) required kiosk owners and vendors to sign individual contracts and submit letters explaining the intent of their stay in the campus.

However, most of the vendors, through the Samahang Manininda sa UP Campus (SMUPC), asked for a group permit for all their kiosks from UP BCO beforehand.

Felicio now worries that the livelihood he has cultivated for 37 years will vanish into thin air.

He is among a hundred vendors who left their kiosks and selling areas and marched with students and workers around UP last Thursday to protest against the proposed contracts.

The protesters, mostly from SMUPC, demanded for a negotiation with UP officials on the issue.

Edna Sinoy, SMUPC President said the vendors did not also receive the copy of the new contracts.

“Basta nalang na may dumating na sulat tapos nakalagay dun sa letter na may taong pwedeng kausapin kung may katanungan pero nung tinatawagan namin ay hindi rin daw po niya alam,” she said.

The UP BCO was not able to talk about the issue as of the time of writing.

Felicio said the contracts ruined his organization’s purpose of negotiating with the administration on the problems they encounter. SMUPC elected a president to represent

them, inform others about them, and help them talk to policemen and officials.

SMUPC, without its officers, cannot inform its members about terms in the contracts if they differed for every other person, especially if they meant threats to their selling, he added.

The individual contracts are just a single point in long list of issues the vendors have had. For years, they faced issues ranging from the removal of their chairs and tables to the hike of their rental fees.

The constant stream of battles between the SMUPC and the UP administration prompted the University Student Council (USC) and more than 60 student organizations to forge the Save the Manininda Alliance.

The Alliance has helped achieve a negotiation with the administration on the removal of chairs and tables in the kiosks. It is now aiming

for a dialogue with the UP Board of Regents so vendors and students can raise their concerns on the contracts.

Nica Navarro, a student who joined the protest, said, “I could not imagine a UP without the maninindas, without them we wouldn’t have the kiosks. As students, the affordable food the kiosk offers is such a big help.”

Aside from selling food cheaply, some of the vendors even loan students their money, said Felicio.

Sometimes they even protect students from being victims of snatchers and other criminals.

He knows that students help the vendors maintain their position in the campus, so they always try to help back.

“Kung mananatili naman kaming andito, nakakatulong naman kami sa mga estudyante… hindi naman kami pahirap. Hindi naman kami pabigat,” he said.

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BALITA/OPINYON

Biyernes, Marso 13, 2014

Column

Marching in her shoes

By Dale Calanog

Men dressed as women - this is how women empowerment looks at present.

Recently a popular actor was seen in television parading red high heels and makeup while holding a placard that says “Power: Minsan Kuryente, Minsan Pinay”. Efforts to empower women and raise a critical discussion on gender equality has gone only as far as men portraying the glamour girl, empowered by stereotypes.

In the first place, not all women wear heels. Why should these encapsulate their identity? There is much more to womanhood than shoes that can be bought in fashionable boutiques and stores.

The issues of gender equality and women empowerment do not only concern gender but extend to other social issues such as poverty. There are women who belong to the marginalized sector that could care less about wearing makeup and experiencing walking in six-inch heels.

The working woman does not need to transform into a glamour girl to feel good about herself.

Does her confidence with her looks impact battered wives or victims of sexual harassment and torture?

Women of the corporate world are actually those that are more likely to be affected by the internal impact brought about by standards of beauty im-

Butthurt

posed by society.

Discrimination among women of all shapes, shades, and sizes has enamored them to rely on created needs such as cosmetics to feel beautiful. They have succumbed to the pressure standards of beauty has imposed on them. They have distanced themselves from accepting their identities and shed away their self worth.

The standards imposed by those in power furthermore try to alienate a woman in a crafted, perfect world she is forced to fit into. She is made vulnerable by the pointing finger of the ‘glamour girls’ that try to retain their position in this world.

But when she is able to break free from this intimidation and confront the real challenges of society, much like how women farmers shaved their heads in their protest action for land distribution last Monday, she is able to see how high they can stand even without the aid of society’s high heels.

Women have long been cramped in a box like dolls; dolls that are only able to move a certain way, walk a certain distance, and play a certain role. As long as the system is looking into lifting them up by fitting them into heels that will eventually hurt their feet, they will never be able to walk in their own shoes, their own stride.

Cartoon by KAREN MACALALAD

UP Diliman to run defective eUP program

By Jobelle Adan and Denver Del Rosario

Despite heavy glitches, the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman will use the new student registration program Student Academic Information System (SAIS) starting either the midyear or the next school year.

As part of the eUP project, SAIS will unite the registration processes across all UP campuses. It will integrate the Computerized Registration System (CRS) and replace UP Los Banos’ SystemOne. UP Manila, the first campus to run SAIS, delayed its enrolment for a month because of problems like the reappearance of settled student loans and the lack of the breakdown of school fees.

UP Manila University Student Council (USC) Chairperson Carlo Lorenzo said SAIS test runs and wide dissemination of information to the UP Manila community are

part of the solution that their council presented to the administration, as the problems remain unresolved. eUP is the flagship project of President Alfredo E. Pascual in a strategic plan for 2011 to 2017. It would bind all UP constituent universities through an Information and Communications (ICT) system.

Costs of building and operating eUP systems could reach P128 million in its first year, wherein a portion will be shouldered by different telecommunication companies, according to the eUP website.

The project, however, discourages developers of local systems like CRS to work on their local programs, because they know eUP will eventually replace them, said UP Student Regent Neil Macuha.

“Kung gusto natin

ma-systematize bakit hindi muna natin tinap ‘yung mga meron tayo? Masyadong malaki ‘yung ginagastos ng UP regarding this,” he said.

SAIS will run in all UP campuses in a phased completion, and will be integrated to the UP Diliman system after its implementation at UP Manila and UP Cebu.

The program allows students to enroll, pay tuition and other fees, request for documents and do other registration processes online.

Faculty can also keep track of their students’ progress and submit their grades to the system. Staff can process the enrollment and requests of students.

As of press time, the Office of Scholarships and Student Services (OSSS) are yet to attend an orientation for SAIS implementation in UP Diliman.

Komiks ni SUPER MARIO

Issue No. 10 Second Semester, A.Y. 2014-2015 Friday, March 13, 2015 Danielle Isaac, Hazel Joy Lobres EDITORS Dale Calanog, Andrea Jobelle Adan, Denver Del Rosario, Bei Zamora, Inna Christine Cabel STAFF WRITERS Karen Macalalad, Luigi Naval CARTOONISTS Gabby Endona LAYOUT ARTIST