Nasa yugto tayo ng pagbalikwas.

Sa pagbubukas ng bagong akademikong taon sa unibersidad at ng huling taon ng panunungkulan ni Pangulong Benigno S. Aquino III, malawak na lunan ng tunggalian ang ating pamantasan at ang bayan. Sa patung-patong na isyung kinakaharap ng bayan, mananatiling mapagbantay, mapanghamon, mapanuri, at mapanghawan tungo sa makatarungang pagbabago ang mga pahina ng Philippine Collegian—ang Kule.

Ang kasaysayan ng bansa ay kasaysayan ng tunggalian. Ang panunungkulan ni Aquino ay tigib ng ilusyon, delusyon, pandarambong, kasinungalingan at paglapastangan sa mamamayan. Walang pinakinggan ang administrasyong Aquino sa mga panawagan ng taumbayan sa loob ng kanyang limang taong panunungkulan. Naghihikahos na mamamayan ang iiwan ng pangulo sa pagtatapos ng kanyang termino. Bukod pa rito ang minanang utang ng bayan na kailanma’y tila hindi mababayaran at perenyal na ipinababalikat sa sambayanan.

Anumang isyu pa man ito, hindi matitinag ang Kule  kasama ang mamamayan, sa paghahawan ng panibago at progresibong kasaysayan. Buong tapang na susuungin ng Kule ang kasalukuyang hamon sa lakas at tikas ng bayan.

Masigasig na babantayan ng publikasyon ang nakasalang na pambansang badyet na lantarang binubusabos ng mga nasa posisyon. Pilit mang itago, lutang ang tunay na hangarin ng pangulo — maglaan ng malaking pondo para sa kanyang partido sa nalalapit na halalan.

Binigyang-diin din ng administrasyong Aquino ang pagpapalakas ng relasyon ng Pilipinas sa mga karatig bansa sa Asya sa paniniwalang makakamit ng bansa ang antas ng ekonomiya ng mga kapitbahay na bansa. Ibinandera din ng pangulo ang kanyang proyektong public-private partnership (PPP) na siya umanong lulutas sa kahirapang dinaranas ng mamamayang Pilipino. Ngunit sa halip na tulong, pinagkakakitaan ng mga dayuhan ang kakarampot na pag-aari ng mga Pilipino.

Kaugnay nito, malaking proyekto ang pinaghahandaan ng pangulo bago pa man matapos ang kanyang termino — ang ASEAN integration na isang pangunahing hakbang upang patatagin ang ugnayan ng Pilipinas sa mga karatig-bansa at ng Estados Unidos. Kaya naman pilit na inihahanay ng pangulo ang edukasyon ng bansa sa iba pang institusyong pang-akademiko sa Asya.

Sapilitan ding ipinayayakap sa mga Pilipino ang bagong programa na K to 12 kung saan dinagdagan ng dalawang taon ang pag-aaral sa elementarya at sekundarya. Hindi pa man sapat ang pondo sa edukasyon, kulang ang mga guro at pasilidad, panibagong dagdag pasanin na naman ito sa mga mag-aaral at magulang.

Hindi bulag ang pangulo sa kasalukuyang kalagayan ng edukasyon sa bansa ngunit higit niya itong pinalala sa pamamagitan ng mga neoliberal na palisiya sa edukasyon tulad ng K to 12 program at Roadmap to Public Higher Education Reforms. Layunin ng mga programa na gawing pribado ang edukasyon, gatasan ang mga magulang at mag-aaral, at talikuran ang konstitusyonal na responsibilidad ng gobyerno na tiyaking makapag-aaral ang lahat ng mamamayan sa lahat ng antas ng edukasyon.

Sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, ginigipit ang mga estudyante sa kanilang karapatang makapag-aral. Hindi na lamang mataas at mapagpanggap na sistema na pagdiskwento sa matrikula sa porma ng Socialized Tuition System ang kinakaharap ng mga estudyante, kundi maging ang kawalan ng matutuluyan. Tinutulak ang mga estudyante na manirahan sa mga semi-private na dormitoryo na dagdag pasakit sa bulsa, emosyon at pag-aaral.

Hindi rin makatarungan ang pagtaas ng presyo ng edukasyon sa porma ng Other School Fees na maiuugat sa kulang na badyet na inilalaan ng pamahalaan. Kaya naman kinakailangang pumasok ng mga state universities at colleges tulad ng UP sa mga pribadong transaksyon, isang solusyon ang problema ng kakulangan sa badyet.

Sa labas ng pamantasan, makikita ang pinalalang sitwasyon ng kahirapan, disempleyo, barat na pasahod, kawalan ng aksyon para sa mga biktima ng bagyong Yolanda, pagkibit-balikat ng rehimen sa usapin ng repormang agraryo, pagkaantala ng usaping pangkapayapaan, patuloy na paglabag sa karapatang-pantao, at pagpapabaya sa batayang serbisyong panlipunan gaya ng kalusugan, pabahay, at edukasyon.

Kinukutkot ang taumbayan ng panibagong yugto ng pangamba lalo na sa usapin ng pagpapalamon ng ekonomiya ng bansa sa dayuhang kapital.

Sa pagbubukas ng ika-93 taon ng Kule, walang espasyong ilalaan sa pag-aatubili. Magpapatuloy ang pahayagan sa matapang nitong pagtugon sa hamon ng panahon. Isasapubliko ng pahayagan ang bawat transakysyon at plano ng administrasyong lalo na sa usapin ng pagpasok ng UP sa iba’t ibang kontrata kasama ang mga pribadong kompanya. Gayundin magiging mapagmatyag ang Kule sa usapin ng benepisyo at sahod ng mga empleyado, kawani at guro ng pamantasan.

Walang naratibo ng pananamantala mula sa hanay ng mga magsasaka, manggagawa, mangingisda, kababaihan at kabataan ang palalagpasin ng Kule. Walang pasubaling ipagpapatuloy ng pahayagan ang ilang dekada ng matapang, matalas at matalab na pamamamhayag.

Kikilatisin at iuulat ng pahayagan ang bawat yugto ng paglaban ng mga mamamayan sa mga palisiya at kapalpakan ng rehimeng Aquino. Ipagpapatuloy ng Kule ang tradisyon ng malayang kritikal na pamamahayag.

Sa unang isyu ng Kule ngayong taon, patuloy na ipinapanawagan ng pahayagan ang pagpapatalsik sa pangulong umabuso sa kanyang kapangyarihan at batas. Hindi mananatiling tagapagmasid ang Kule. Sasabay ang pahayagan sa mabilis na pagbabago ng panahon kung saan gagamitin ang iba’t ibang lunsaran upang maarmasan ang malawak na bilang ng mga estudyante ng malalim at napapanahong mga ulat at suri. Sa laban at tagumpay ng mamamayan, kahingian ng panahon ang pumanig sa mamamayang inaapi pero bumabalikwas.

Makikiisa sa pagkatha ng bagong pahina ng kasaysayan ang Kule. Patuloy na papanig at babalikwas ang pahayagan sa mga batayang sektor na naaapi — singtingkad at singtalas ng nakasanayan.

Ito ang panahon ng paniningil at pagpapanagot.

Sinusubukang bulagin ng administrasyong Aquino ang mamamayan sa pamamagitan ng isang malaking kalokohan at kasinungalingan: na nangangahulugan ng maraming proyekto at programa ang malaking bahagdan na itinaas ng pambansang badyet para sa taong 2016.

Pinagmimistulang pagtalima sa panawagan ng bayan ang tatlong trilyong pisong badyet ng pangulo. Mula sa P2.6 trilyong badyet ngayong taon, tataas ito ng 15.2 porsyento para sa susunod na taon, kung saan malaking bahagi diumano ang mapupunta sa sektor ng edukasyon. Mula P377.7 bilyon para sa 2015, tataas ito sa P435.9 bilyon para sa susunod na taon.

Ngunit kailangang maging kritikal sa pagtaas ng badyet sa edukasyon. Hudyat ito nang pina-igting na pribatisasyon ng pampublikong edukasyon sa pamamagitan ng ipinagmamalaking programa ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino III na K to 12 o ang pagdaragdag ng dalawang taon ng gastos at pahirap sa sekundarya.

Susi sa intensipikasyon ng neoliberalismo ng edukasyon at paggawa ang nasabing dagdag badyet sa edukasyon. Sa halip na itaas ang kamulatan at kakayahan ng mga kabataan at mag-aaral upang pag-ibayuhin ang industriyang Pilipino, itinutulak ng K to 12 na nakapailalim sa Roadmap for Public Higher Reform ni Aquino, ang mga kabataan at mag-aaral na huwag nang magkolehiyo. Ang resulta murang lakas-paggawa at pagpapakaalila ng mga Pilipino sa mga dayuhan at higanteng korporasyon.

Makikita maging sa bakuran ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP) ang talamak na komersyalisasyon at pribatisasyon, pagtaas ng matrikula at iba pang bayarin tulad ng dormitory fee, paglipana ng mga lokus ng komersyalisasyon katulad ng UP Town Center at UP Technohub sa halip na gamitin para sa pang-akademikong layunin. Sa limang taong panunungkulan ni Aquino nagmistulang pribadong produkto ang mga institusyong pang-edukasyon kung saan tanging ang mga may kakayahang magbayad lamang ang nakapag-aaral.

Ngayong taon, sa halip na tugunan ang panawagan na libre at de-kalidad na edukasyon para sa lahat, tinapyasan ng P2.2 bilyon ng Department of Budget and Management ang badyet ng UP. Isa sa may pinakamalaking bawas sa kabuuang badyet na P43.65 para sa 112 na State Colleges and Universities (SUCs). Sa halip na solusyonan, tahasan pang inginungudngod ng administrasyong Aquino ang mga kabataan sa kahirapan.

Sa kolehiyo, patuloy ang panawagan para sa moratorium sa pagtaas ng matrikula at iba pang bayarin. Ngunit binasbasan ng Comission on Higher Education (CHED) ang pagtaas ng matrikula at iba pang bayarin sa 10 Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) para sa taong 2015-2016. Samantalang may 15 milyong kabataan sa kasalukuyan ang hindi nakapag-aral at 2.3 milyon ang taunang dropout sa kolehiyo.

Sistematikong pinapatay ng administrasyon ang mga estudyante dahil sa hindi-maampat na pagtaas ng presyo ng edukasyon: Kristel Tejada ng UP Manila, Rosanna Sanfuego ng Cagayan State University at Jhomary Azaula ng EARIST. Hindi na lamang ang pangarap nilang makapagtapos ng pag-aaral ang nawala, maging ang karapatan nilang mabuhay.

Ang mapanlinlang na badyet ni Aquino ay pondo para sa dayuhan at para sa korapsyon. Pilit mang itago, lumilitaw ang katotohanang mas malaking badyet (P740.5 bilyon) pa rin ang inilaan ng pamahalaan sa pambayad ng utang panlabas kumpara sa P504.6 bilyong badyet sa edukasyon.

Nariyan din ang P648.2 bilyon na pondo para sa korapsyon. Ito’y 22 porsyento ng kabuuang badyet na tinatawag na Special Purpose Funds at lump sum funds, bahagi ng Disbursement Acceleration Program na idineklarang iligal ng Korte Suprema.

Ang pondo para sa korapsyon at pribatisasyon ay makikita rin sa lumaking badyet para sa imprastruktura bilang pangunahing alokasyon na inilaan sa public-private partnerships (PPP) kung saan katuwang ng gobyerno sa kanilang proyekto ang mga pribadong kompanya.

Ang P766.5 bilyon na nakalaan para sa pagpapagawa ng mga kalsada, paliparan at pagpapalawak ng MRT/LRT ay pagsaid sa kaban ng bayan para sa bulsa ng iilan. Gumagastos ng malaki ang pangulo para sa mga proyekto sa ilalim ng PPPs upang tiyakin ang ganansya ng mga pribadong kompanya.

Sa pambansang badyet, hinding-hindi nawawala ang parte ng mga kaalyado ng pangulo gamit ang PPP. Sa pag-aaral ng Kabataan Partylist, lumalabas na may karagdagang 13 proyekto para sa nasabing programa ng PPP. Pangunahing makikinabang dito sina Henry Sy, Pangilinan at Cojuangco.

Kaugnay ng patuloy na pambabarat sa halaga ng lakas-paggawa ng mga Pilipino ang pinatindi at lumalawak na sistema ng kontrakwalisasyon. Inanak ng nasabing palisiya ang two-tiered system o ang pagbibigay benepisyo sa mga empleyado gamit ang point system.

Batay sa tala ng IBON Foundation, tumaas ng dalawang milyon ang bilang ng mahihirap na Pilipino. Sa kabila ng bilyong-bilyong pisong badyet na inilaan para sa Conditional Cash Transfer, pito sa bawat 10 Pilipino ang naghihirap batay sa sarbey na isinagawa ng IBON.

Sa pondo para sa pampublikong pabahay, wala pa sa isang porsyento ng pambansang badyet ang inilaan rito. Kung gaano kapiranggot ang pondo ay siya namang ga-higante ng patuloy na mga demolisyon at ang pagpapatayo ng mga komersiyal na gusali.

Sa pambansang badyet, pondo para sa korapsyon at panlilinlang ang may panibagong P33 bilyon na badyet para sa pabahay ng mga maralita. Samantala, 2.5 porsyento lamang ng kabuuang 21,012 na proyektong pabahay ng pamahalaan noong nakaraang taon ang naisagawa.

Kung susumahin, nananatili ang tunguhin ng pangulo na pagkakitaan ang kaban ng bayan at patuloy na paboran ang mga dayuhang mangangalakal, sa halip na tanganan ang responsibilidad sa mga serbisyong panlipunan. Sa pagpapatuloy ng deliberasyon ng badyet sa kamara, titindig ang mga kabataan upang ipaglaban ang karapatang mabigayn ng sapat na badyet para sa mga serbisyong panlipunan.

The road to national development entails the provision of basic social services, removal of poverty, and strengthening of local industries. President Benigno Aquino III’s administration claims to target these, but detours instead to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a huge market of lopsided agreements where the Philippines is at the losing end.

Seen as a step towards progress, the TPP is at par with Aquino’s Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program which undermines the government’s responsibility to ensure economic opportunities for weak sectors.  PPP is packed with favorable terms for investors like guaranteed return on investment, which burdened consumers and taxpayers with soaring MRT and LRT fares, water, electricity, and health service rates.

Now comes TPP, allowing foreign investors to exploit the resources of our country. Spearheaded by the United States (US) to counter China’s rising influence in East Asia, TPP writes the rules for global trade, slashing tariffs and trade barriers between 12 nations representing 40 percent of the global economy.

In an apparent move to qualify for TPP membership, the Congress swiftly approved House Bill 6395, allowing lending companies, financing companies and investment houses to be 100 percent owned by foreign nationals. During a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama on November 18, Aquino sought US support to join the TPP “because it offers to a far larger market.”

However, it compels the removal of trade barriers that supposedly protect local industries especially in developing countries like the Philippines. This free trade setup is a battlefield manipulated by economic superpowers where foreign investors rule in the guise of competition.

Granting full foreign ownership of our companies and lands from the current 40 percent cap, it turns over large chunks of the economy to foreign profit-seeking corporations. In effect, locals are disenfranchised in their own land where jobs are scarce and wages are low, forcing them to work abroad under dismal conditions.

Furthermore, the TPP exacerbates the perennial problem of land reform foiled by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program extended by Aquino. Thousands of hectares of land remain undistributed to farmers like the 6,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, 7,183-hectare Hacienda Roxas in Batangas, and the 16,000-hectare Hacienda Reyes in Quezon.

Majority of the population who are farmers and workers bear the biggest brunt as TPP jeopardizes the country’s economic independence. With the lack of a strong economic base, developing countries suffer job losses, undercutting of worker rights, and dismantling of labor, environmental, health and financial laws.

Our non-inclusion in the TPP has given Congress an impetus to push through Charter Change (Cha-Cha), but not one from among the basic sectors in the Philippines would dance to Cha-Cha. Clearly, politicians railroading amendments in the Constitution have different interests to forward other than their constituents’.

After traversing the road to free trade under the World Trade Organization (WTO), the country is yet to recover from its ill effects 20 years hence, where from being a net importer of rice, we became a net exporter as production fell and land grabbing became rampant. The WTO only concentrated capital into the hands of the rich few at the expense of workers.

This is the same road the TPP is headed to. Instead of meeting the demands set by TPP, the Aquino administration should meet the needs of the people aggravated by its neoliberal policies. It must shift its gears towards strengthening national industry and upholding the country’s autonomy, boosted by the pressure from citizens in its demands for pro-people policies.

More than ever, the glaring inequality between foreign and local interest demands the government to strike the imbalance and surpass the roadblocks to national development.

Six years in power has proved too short for the Aquino administration to heed calls against the spate of tuition increases in the country. This indifference can only be reversed through an executive order, as the power to stop impending tuition hikes now rests on the president’s signature alone.

The high cost of tertiary education has taken too many lives, with a total of four education-related suicides recorded across the country just between 2013 and 2015. This February, another student from Central Bicol State University of Agriculture hanged himself in desperation after the school administration withdrew his scholarship, forcing him to pay an amount his family could not afford.

The government nevertheless turns a blind eye toward these deaths, evident in the incessant rise of tuition rates in the past six years. Around 400 public and private higher educational institutions have already proposed to hike tuition in the next academic year, since the Commission on Higher Education (CHED)’s Memorandum No. 3 Series 2012 allowed for such as long as consultations with stakeholders are met.

The lack of transparency in these consultations makes it easier to impose hikes. For instance, the University of Santo Tomas has been increasing tuition by two to five percent annually since 2011. Fees have also doubled under Aquino’s term, with the national average tuition rate currently pegged at P603.62 per unit from P334.80 per unit in 2010. The University of the Philippines is no different, with tuition fee collection hitting an all-time high in 2014.

Aquino’s Roadmap to Public Higher Education Reforms (RPHER) has only worsened tuition hikes. The program shifts the government’s responsibility of subsidizing education to SUCs in order to push them to self-sufficiency. The very nature of RPHER treats students as money-making puppets who rake in profits for SUCs. Dubious and excessive collections in the form of other school fees also amass money from students for the school’s profit.

While a whopping increase greeted the budget allocation for SUCs, to P43.7 billion in 2016 from P23.8 billion in 2010, this stands immaterial as it is still only half of the proposed P82.6 billion that SUCs need, according to CHED. The budgetary increases trick us into thinking that education is getting more funding, when these are only made to support RPHER.

Tuition hikes, coupled with the high cost of living and families living with measly wages, have made tertiary education inaccessible. A study by the United Nations revealed that the Philippines had the highest dropout rate in Southeast Asia in 2013, with a total of 535, 896 out-of-school youth.

To address the number of drop-out youths, the Aquino administration implemented scholarship programs under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, a dole-out system to poor families. However, this is only a band-aid solution that provides unsustainable solutions, when what the government should address is greater state subsidy to make education free and accessible to all.

The government should go back to its roots and realize that education is a right that should be enjoyed by all. Instead of railroading the increase of tuition fees, CHED should impose stricter mechanisms to ensure that no student is left behind because of his inability to pay tuition. The provision of scholarships must also advocate toward the poor and deserving.

Every decision ordering the increase of tuition fees is a decision made against the future of the Filipino people. An executive order preventing any form of tuition hikes serves as the last resort to stop any deaths claimed by the price of education, lest the Aquino regime stand ground on the gross neglect toward the citizens it promised to serve.

The numbers are as tragic as they come: 67 Lumad have been killed, more than 60,155 have forcibly fled their homes, 782 class suspensions were reported, and at least two evacuation centers have been torched to the ground.

President Benigno Aquino III promised in 2011 that his government will strengthen policies for the right of indigenous peoples. Five years have passed yet the Lumad people remain to be one of the largest victims of human rights violations. This utter disregard for the indigenous people’s rights constitutes not just an attack against humanity, but a slap toward the long history of their struggles to defend their own lands and heritage.

Abuses against the Lumad intensified over the past years. On September 2015, Lumad school director Emerlito Samarca and two others were brutally murdered in front of their students. The killing of a 15-year old Lumad student followed on January 18, and just a month after, suspected paramilitary agents burned down an evacuation center that housed Lumads in Davao City.

Instead of standing up with the Lumad, the government has chosen to side with the multinational companies that have been exploiting the Lumad’s ancestral lands, which arguably hold the richest deposits of gold and other minerals in the country.

The Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997, which supposedly protects the rights of the Lumad, has instead facilitated land grabbing by multinational companies. The introduction of the application process for land ownership only allowed the government to favor the claims of large mining companies over honoring ancestral domains.

Moreover, the 20-year old Mining Act of 1995 has done nothing but destroy the Lumad lands while raking in profit for large mining companies— profits confined only to the rich and few elite members. Granting incentives to companies for conducting mining activities is also a waste, since the mining industry has contributed only 0.72 percent in our 2015 gross domestic product.

These oppressive government policies thus heightened the resistance among the Lumad people. As response, thousands of military men were deployed in Mindanao to contain their forces, only to become the main culprits in perpetrating violence together with the Aquino-backed paramilitary groups.

Lumad leaders have also been consistently tagged as members of the rebel group New People’s Army, and are effectively seen as targets in counter-insurgency programs, then called Oplan Bantay Laya during the Arroyo administration and now restructured as Oplan Bayanihan under Aquino.

The Lumad’s calls to the government are simple: return to them their ancestral lands and stop the militarization in their communities. But these calls have remained unheard, as those brave enough to stand up for their rights are silenced- a tactic reminiscent of the Martial law era where people who resisted the administration were killed, tortured, or forcibly disappeared.

The protest caravan Manilakbayan in November last year showed the richness and diversity of the Lumad culture. Despite the countless deaths and military attacks that struck their areas, their campaign remains vigilant and strong. To bring justice to the fallen Lumad, Aquino must review his promise of ensuring the rights of all indigenous peoples, and turn his back on any entity that continues their exploitation.

Dibuho ni Guia Abogado

Walang pinipiling sakuna ang paghahasik ng karahasan at trahedya ng pasistang estado. Sa kabila ng pagmamakaawa ng mga magsasaka na ipamahagi ang pondo para sa kalamidad bilang tugon sa nararanasan nilang tagtuyot at kagutuman, bala at dahas ang naging sagot ng pamahalaan.

Matinding  krisis  ng  kagutuman  ang  sinapit  ng  Mindanao  sa  pagtama  ng  El  Niño  simula  pa  noong  Pebrero 2015.  Mahigit  P4  bilyon  halaga  ng  pananim  ang  nasira  at  40,000  magsasaka  ang  lubhang  apektado. Napipilitang  lumikas  sa  iba’t  ibang  bayan  ang  mga  residenteng  walang  makain,  subalit  hindi  nakatakas  sa desperasyon ang isang magsasakang nagpakamatay noong Pebrero.

Dahil  sa  kawalang  aksyon  ng  pamahalaan,  nagprotesta  ang  6,000 magsasaka  sa  Davao-Cotabato  Highway noong  Marso  30.  Sa  halip  na  ipamigay  ni  Gobernador  Emmylou  Mendoza  ang  pangakong  15,000  sako  ng bigas, pandarahas ang inabot ng mga magsasaka. Dalawa na ang kumpirmadong patay at mahigit 100 ang sugatan, habang 86 ang ilegal  na inaresto  kabilang ang tatlong buntis,  pitong  matatanda, at  maging  mga bata, ayon sa tala ng Karapatan.

Tila  limos  na maituturing ang tatlong  kilong  bigas  bawat  pamilya  na  planong  ipamigay  ni  Mendoza  na kasalukuyang nahaharap sa kaso ng kurapsyon. Tatagal lang ito ng tatlong araw gayong ilang buwan nang nagdurusa sa El Niño ang mga magsasaka.

Bukod  sa   kapabayaan,  tahasang   nilabag   ng  awtoridad  ang   karapatang   magprotesta ng mamamayan  at  ang pagpapatupad ng maximum tolerance kung saan mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ang padadala at paggamit ng baril sa isang protesta. Negatibo naman ang naging pagtanggap ng gobernador sa isinagawang imbestigasyon ukol sa insidente dahilan upang harangin ang pagdating ng mga donasyon mula sa mga pribadong grupo na  nagpapakita lamang ng kanyang inkumpitensya.

Sukdulang   pagpapaimbabaw   naman   ang   pagbibigay   karangalan   sa   kapulisan   na  nandahas at namaril sa mga  magsasaka.  Nilelehitimo  lamang nito  ang  karahasan  ng  estado na  ipinapalagay  na isang kagitingan ang pagpatay sa walang kalaban-laban at pinagsasamantalahan.

Hindi na bago ang  ganitong  eksena para kay Pangulong Benigno Aquino III na nahuhuli sa mga pangyayari. Ilang araw matapos ang insidente walang naging pahayag ang pangulo, pagkundena man o simpatiya.  Nadagdagan na naman ang bilang ng Pilipinong dumanak ng dugo sa ilalim ng kanyang panunungkulan. Hindi hiwalay dito ang sinapit ng 44  na  miyembro  ng Special  Action  Force  at milyung-milyong nasalanta ng Bagyong Yolanda.

Patuloy  na  dinadahas ng estado ang  Mindanao  sa pagpapatupad nito ng mga  counterinsurgency  program na kumikitil  maging  sa  ordinaryong  mamamayan,  gaya ng  Oplan  Bayanihan  ni  Aquino.  Sa  ilalim  ng kapangyarihan  ng  pulis  at  militar,  hawak ng awtoridad ang kapangyarihan upang higit na dahasin ang mamamayan sa halip na magbigay ng proteksyon katulad ng nangyari sa Kidapawan.

Nakatala na sa  kasaysayan  ang  kaso ng pagpatay  sa  mga  magsasaka  dahil  sa  usaping  agraryo.  Sa  termino  ni dating  Pangulong  Corazon  Aquino,  13  magsasaka  ang  pinatay  sa  Mendiola Massacre,  habang   14 ang pinaslang sa kanilang lupain sa Hacienda Luisita dahil sa paggigiit ng mga magsasaka ng tamang pasahod.

Hangga’t  pinamumunuan  ng  mga  panginoong  may  lupa ang  gobyerno,  walang tunay na repormang agraryo na matatanggap ang mga magsasaka. Tatlong  dekada  na ang lumipas noong ipatupad ang Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, ngunit hindi pa rin magsasaka ang nagmamay-ari ng  lupa. Aabot lamang sa P156  kada  araw  ang minimum wage  nila at  40  porsyento  sa sektor  na ito  ang  naghihirap, ayon sa Philippine Statistics Authority.

Magbubunsod ang  patuloy  na pagpapahirap sa  mga  magsasaka ng diwang  palaban  dahil sa  materyal  na kundisyon nabubuhay ang punla ng pakikibaka. Hangga’t hindi nakakamit ang tunay na reporma sa lupa at patuloy na pinapatay ang mga  magsasakang  bumubuhay  sa  bayan,  mas iigting ang pag-aaklas na hindi kailanman magpapasailalim sa  kaayusang idinidikta ng pamahalaan.

Nag-aanak ng giyera ang patuloy na kahirapang nararanasan sa Mindanao.

Hindi pa man nabibigyan ng hustisya ang pandarahas at pagpatay sa mga Lumad at magsasaka sa Mindanao, muli na namang umigting ang giyera sa Basilan na ikinamatay ng 18 sundalo at nag-iwan ng 53 pang sugatan.

Sa Mindanao matatagpuan ang pinakamahihirap na lalawigan sa bansa kabilang ang Lanao del Norte, Sulu, Sarangani, at Maguindanao batay sa tala ng Philippine Statistics Authority. Hindi na kataka-takang nagpapatuloy ang kawalan ng kumpyansa ng mga mamamayan sa gobyernong ang sagot sa rebelyon ay dahas sa halip na kabuhayan at sapat na badyet para sa mga imprastruktura at iba pang batayang serbisyo tulad ng agrikultura, edukasyon, at pangkalusugan.

Patuloy ang girian sa pagitan ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP ) at ng teroristang Abu Sayyaf na itinuturing na responsable sa kaliwa’t kanang krimen sa rehiyon. Sila ang itinuturo na nasa likod ng mga kaso ng kidnapping, pambobomba, pamumugot ng ulo, at pagpatay. Nauna nang idineklara ng Estados Unidos (US) ang Abu Sayyaf na teroristang grupong nakabase sa Pilipinas.

Higit na pinatindi ng pagmamaniobra ng US sa mga sundalong Pilipino ang ilang dekada nang giyera sa Mindanao. Ang bagong mga pag-atake ay naka-ugat sa layuning mahuli ang kumander ng Abu Sayyaf na may patong na limang milyong dolyar mula sa US. Pangalawang pag-atake na ang nangyari noong ika-14 ng Abril matapos ang unang atake noong ika-9 ng Abril kung saan may 18 sundalo at limang Abu Sayyaf ang namatay.

Sa halip na tulong, karahasan at pananamantala ang idinulot ng ilang dekadang pakikipag-ugnayan ng Pilipinas sa US. Sa katunayan, naging mailap ang hustisya para sa mga biktima ng pandarahas ng mga dayuhang sundalo. Ilan lamang dito ang Subic rape case noong 2006 at ang kaso ng pagpatay kay Jennifer Laude noong 2014.

Sa kabila ng mga nakabinbing kaso ng mga dayuhang sundalo, nanatiling bukas ang Pilipinas sa sa mga tropang Amerikano. Binubulag ang mga Pilipino sa paniniwalang malaking tulong ang US upang malutas ang kaso ng krimen at terorismo sa bansa. Ngunit sa ilang kasunduan na pinagdaanan ng Pilipinas at US, nanatili ang kahirapan at naisantabi ang usaping pangkapayapaan sa rehiyon.

Ilan sa kasunduan ang Visiting Forces Agreement na nilagdaan noong 1999. Pangunahing programa sa ilalim nito ang Balikatan exercises, mga taunang pagsasanay sa pagitan ng mga sundalong Amerikano at AFP. Ngunit ang katotohanan, sinasanay nito ang AFP na giyerahin ang sarili niyang mga tao.

Kaya hindi maihihiwalay ang isyu ng nangyayari sa Basilan o Sulu sa kabuuang problema ng mga Bangsamoro. Sa halip na tugunan ang ugat ng rebelyon ng mga rebeldeng grupo, giyera ang sinasagot ng pamahalaan.

Mandato ng pamahalaan na ugatin ang problema—kung bakit patuloy na lumalakas ang pwersa ng mga rebeldeng grupo sa bansa at ang implikasyon ng patuloy na pakikipagkasundo sa mga dayuhang sundalo na silang utak ng kaliwa’t kanang pag-atake sa mga rebelde na naka-ugnay sa layunin nilang ubusin ang mga terorista saanmang dako ng mundo.

Sa Pilipinas lamang, pangunahing problema ng mga Pilipino ang kahirapan at kawalan ng hustisya. Salat sa batayang serbisyo mula sa pamahalaan ang mamamayan ng Mindanao. Hindi maitatanggi na sa kabila ng masaganang likas na yaman sa rehiyon, talamak ang pandarahas at pananamantala ng mga naglalakihang korporasyon na may malayang operasyon sa rehiyon na pinahihintulutan at hinihikayat pa ng pamahalaan.

Hindi kailanman naging sagot ang giyera sa mga suliranin ng bansa. Sa huli, ang tunay na talo sa giyera ay ang mamamayang nagiging sangkalan ng digmaan. Sa nangyayaring giyera sa Mindanao, kalayaan sa dahas, kabuhayan, at sapat na serbisyong panlipunan ang tanging kahingian ng mamamayan.

Illustration by John Kenneth Zapata

The past six years of President Benigno Aquino III have left behind a legacy that only isolated the people from the Tuwid na Daan formula. President-elect Rodrigo Duterte now faces the challenge of ironing out the previous administration’s mistakes—a challenge forwarded by the youth and the people who have propelled him into the country’s chief post.

The people’s optimism towards a Duterte-led government is anchored on the thirst for radical change. He constantly talked about upholding peace and order, with the foremost agenda of eradicating criminality within three to six months in office.

Ironically, Aquino’s win in 2010 was also brought by a nation hungry to see reforms in the corrupted government, hoping transparency would eradicate all other problems. However, he fell short of what the Philippines needed to stir it toward his so-called Tuwid na Daan.

As he steps down from office, 7.7 million Filipinos are left underemployed because of contractualization. He leaves with K-12 program in full swing, despite the lack of facilities and preparation of the faculty and students. Human rights violations also escalated with at least 31 cases of enforced disappearances, and several military attacks against thousands of the Lumad people.

What the country needs is a genuine shift from policies that only benefited the country’s upper one percent to ones that truly reflect the needs of the masses.

Duterte set himself on a good start as for the first time in recent history, the president openly holds peace talks to address the poverty and harassment of the minorities that urged rebel groups to revolt in the first place.

His choice of cabinet members includes peasant leader Rafael Mariano for the Department of Agrarian Reform and retired UP Professor Judy Taguiwalo for the Department of Social Work and Development. Welcoming the progressive people into seats of power gives the masses the prime opportunity of being served by people who have fought with them in their struggle.

Duterte, who brands himself as a leftist and prides himself for being the first president to be so, shows even more promise as this attitude will ensure that he will not fall trap under orders of the United States.

Yet we must remain vigilant given his record of summary killings—something he sees nothing wrong in. Duterte’s solution to all of the country’s problems lies in killing the perpetrators of the crime, a move reminiscent of the Marcos administration. His admiration toward the late president’s rule betrays the thousands the dictator ordered to be killed and forcibly disappeared.

Moreover, Duterte’s justification of journalistic killings calls the Collegian to action, that we uphold the rights of the fourth estate. Unless he remains steady in his belief that all journalists are corrupt and deserve to be killed, the media are left with the choice to revolt against an administration that aims to silence it.

As Duterte takes his presidential oath, the youth must be reminded of their prime duty to make his incoming administration accountable for all the promises it has made, and of the misguided choices it has taken so far.

We must give support where support is due, criticize where critics are needed to stir the government to the right path, and disturb when our voices get drowned out by the status quo. The Collegian will not falter in delivering the sharpest critiques on Philippine society, and it stands as one with the masses who continue to struggle for genuine peace and progress.

The post Radical shift appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

Illustration by John Kenneth Zapata (Editorial cartoon of the Collegian’s 17th issue)

REGRETTABLY, the conversation between President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and the news media has turned sharp and shrill. All but lost in the noise is the two parties’ common duty in law and tradition to serve and to inform the Filipino people on issues, events and policies that affect their interest and welfare.

A president—all at once the chief executive, fount of foreign policy, manager of the national household, guardian of peace and order, commander of the uniformed services, and arbiter of policy conflicts—is the most important pivot of news and policy in the land. A president is mandated by law to lead the nation and to promote transparency, accountability and good governance.

But the Constitution also upholds the citizens’ rights to free speech, free press, free expression, and peaceable assembly. It guarantees as well their right to due process, equality before the law, access to information, justice, and life.

As “the people’s private eye in the public arena,” the news media serve as custodian and gatekeeper of some of these rights. It’s a task that must be accomplished, and the President-elect’s predecessors as well as the nation’s journey from democracy to dictatorship and back illustrate why and how we must inquire into, inveigh against, and investigate questionable public officials and agencies, on the citizens’ behalf.

Thus, despite his vexation with those he calls the “lowlifes” and the “mouthpieces” in the news media, we must at all times cover him, his actions, and his statements. In truth, the news media must report more—and better—about him, his policies and his actions, with our reports guided by the best standards of accuracy, fairness and context.

This we must do even as we note at least two disturbing “messages” from the President-elect.

First, by saying that “corrupt journalists … vultures of journalism can die for all I care [because] you’re asking for it,” he mocks the memory of 172 journalists (at latest count) killed in the line of duty since democracy’s rebirth in 1986. The last reports filed by a majority of those slain journalists precisely exposed crime and corruption, the same social ills that he says he wants to curb. Sadly, not a single mastermind or principal suspect in these murders, including state agents, local warlords, and criminal elements, have been held to account.

Second, whether intended or not, his volcanic language has dampened, indeed chilled, the daily reportage, so that journalists with valid, if testy, questions are seemingly forced to eat expletives by way of a response.

To be sure, corruption in the news media is as real as the 16-million vote that secured the victory of the President-elect. To be sure, corruption afflicts both individuals and agencies in the news media, and has evolved into a subculture with a language all its own.

As anywhere else, however, corruption in the news media is a supply-demand chain. One solution offers a key role for the incoming administration: Slay it at the source. The government’s own media agents, as well as politicians and corporate PRs who offer more than stories to get favorable coverage or to spike bad news, must, in the President-elect’s words, “stop it.” Another solution calls for quick action from media managers: Provide better pay and protection for journalists.

But here’s the thing: The institutional capture of the news media by politicians has begun in some parts of the country. Local politicians and their families have acquired ownership and control of print and broadcast media agencies, and certain local government units have bought block-time segments using public funds. The corruption of the news media thus also involves partisan political interests driving editorial processes—as the President-elect knows full well.

Yet for all the supposed differences, the news media and the President-elect have complete agreement on one factor: the urgency of a Freedom of Information Law. The issuance of an FOI executive order on Day One of his presidency should prevent the 17th Congress from tarrying in its task.

An FOI Law will provide the necessary institutional and legal framework for full and true functional links between transparency and accountability in government, and for the right of all Filipinos to access information in order to take part in nation-building.

We in the news media wish the incoming administration success in all its endeavors. As journalists and as citizens, we commit not only to do journalism right and better, but also to uphold and defend free speech, free press, free expression, and the people’s right to know.

—

NOTE: This pooled editorial has been published and signed by the Philippine Press Institute, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, Notre Dame Broadcasting Corporation, Mindanao Cross, Mindanao Gold Star Daily, Sun.Star-Cagayan de Oro, The Journal, The Freeman, Bicol Today, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, Kodao Productions, Bulatlat, Philippine Collegian, Eastern Vista, Pahayagang Balikas, Banat News, Northern Dispatch, Panguil Bay Monitor, Mindanao Monitor, Catarman Weekly Tribune, The Standard, Lanao del Norte Today, Panay Today, Pinoy Weekly, BlogWatch, The People’s Alternative Media Network, Golden Journal, Cebu Daily News, SunStar-Baguio, Bicol News, and individual journalists from print, broadcast, and online media.

The post Pooled Editorial:
THE PREZ AND THE PRESS appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

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 Pangulo 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 pag-aaral 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 ng 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 karapatang-pantao gaya ng mga estudyanteng sila Karen Empeno 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 ang 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 lagit’ 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.

The post Patuloy na maninindigan appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

Progress is built upon the people’s collective memory and willingness to change. As the Philippine Collegian heads toward another year of fearless and critical journalism, it moves with the conscious knowledge of lessons learned from the past.

For almost a century, the Collegian has served as an alternative to the popular reportage driven by elitist interests, to bring forth the sidetracked issues of the peasants, workers, and other sectors. It has stood against subjugation even in the darkest of times like when dictatorship imposed censorship among media outlets.

As the official student publication of UP Diliman, the Collegian has exposed the measures taken by policy-makers which made education inaccessible to the poor. Its pages revealed how systemic budget cuts pushed the country’s national state university into income-generating projects in the form of tuition and other fee collections, and renting out of public lands to business moguls.

The Collegian provided spaces for discourse for issues well beyond the university. It exposed itself to the struggles confronted by other sectors—of the landless farmers, contractual workers, and displaced indigenous groups, among others. Militant ideas and calls for genuine agrarian reform, regularization, and pro-people policies were present in all editorial cartoon, photos, and articles ever published.

However, there have been administrative policies and challenges on student membership that hindered the Collegian in fulfilling its mandate in the past years.

Since the implementation of the Government Procurement Reform Act in 2006, the publication’s funds have been withheld by the administration and treated as government fund. This leaves members no choice but to shell-out money to finance their activities within and outside UP and wait for weeks before the reimbursement of their expenses.

The lack of trained members and skilled editors also resulted to a fewer number of published issues—a glaring case for the past two terms. With the absence of student participation, keeping up the weekly release of the Collegian while maintaining its social media presence has become a heavy task.

The publication has consistently been redtagged and labelled biased by the UP president and some of its readers, which caused a chilling effect among its writers and graphic artists. There were calls to defund the newspaper for being subjective, when journalism itself should advocate to represent the voice of the oppressed and marginalized.

Amid all these, the Collegian will carry on its mandate of being UPD’s weekly student newspaper in its 94^th year. The promise of change under the new administration sets the tone for the publication to return to its tradition of actively informing, criticizing, and engaging in socio-political crises prevalent in the society.

The Collegian vows to defy all barriers that may have hindered it from performing its duty of advocacy journalism. The publication is set to rectify its past mistakes and become spaces of dissidence and detested opinion, to raise a discourse that is inclusive, well-rounded, and never confined within the gates of the university.

The publication will always be one with the struggles of the iskolar ng bayan. The Collegian banks on the talents and skills of its members who are students themselves, and draws defense from the UP community.

As the Collegian serves as the embodiment of the people’s narrative, the publication will not falter. ■

The post Moving forward appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

One is easy to escape with impunity through corruption of public memory. Such is the victory so close at hand for the Marcoses, should the clamor against the late dictator’s burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani finally be conquered.

The tyranny of former president Ferdinand Marcos may have ended in 1986, but the atrocities and corruption rampant in his time remain shrouded in illusions of peace and development. His son even ran as vice-president and won 14.1 million votes during the 2016 elections, while his family earned the current president’s approval for his burial in the heroes’ cemetery.

The economic progress under the dictator’s rule is one of the most used proofs used for revising history, citing his contributions to the infrastructure sector. What was never told was that foreign debts funded these projects, effectively increasing the country’s external debt to $26.4 billion in 1986 from $599 million in 1966, which Filipinos are obliged to pay until 2025, according to IBON Foundation.

The country was further led to the delirious path of economic decline and poverty after Marcos and his cronies amassed around $8 billion of foreign debt and at least $5 billion of public funds. Thousands were pushed to work abroad despite the danger of exploitation, as unemployment rate rose and real wages of skilled workers decreased to P35.38 in 1986 from P126.74 in 1962.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who is vocal in giving recognition to Marcos, has cited on his defense that the dictator served as a war veteran. But historical records has long unmasked this image of Marcos as a fraud, which further showed that some who claimed to be part of the Marcos-led Maharlika were involved in the massacre of ordinary Filipino people.

Heroes are expected to save lives, much unlike the dictator who caused bloodbath under his rule. The sense of discipline during the 1980s boasted by his apologists cost lives of civilians and those who fearlessly stood against repression but were silenced by his fascism.

The social unrest left 70,000 arrested, 34,000 tortured, 3,240 executed, and 1,000 victims of enforced disappearances, according to Amnesty International. While the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act was signed in 2013 to provide compensation to victims, claimants first had to prove that they are victims through the screening process for “money rewards.”

History threatens to repeat itself this year. Under the Duterte administration, hundreds of extrajudicial killing cases of the poor have been recorded due to the kill-all attitude for the war on drugs.

At this point, the public should be enraged to refute Marcos’s recognition and prevent the grim history of atrocity from happening again. Allowing the Marcoses to escape with impunity and live lavishly with their ill-gotten wealth is an utter disregard for history, especially to those who fought for democracy.

The press plays a crucial role of ensuring that individuals who were born after the turbulent dictatorship will learn the correct side of history. The mass media, including the Philippine Collegian, is more capable to publish radical ideas and anomalies in the government—the media that survived extreme censorship under the Marcos regime.

The rise of social media serves as a new democratic space for the press to circulate a counter narrative to one presented by Marcos and his cronies. Stories of Martial Law victims and the battles fought before against subjugation should be retold and highlighted in every article, photo, and illustration, to dispel the major myths during the bloodstained regime.

For the public can only counter the culture of impunity if it willfully dares to demand justice where it is due. ■

The post No escape appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

The Filipinos need only to look back to the month of September to remind them of our bloody history.

It was at this time 44 years ago that the late dictator declared martial law, taking around 3,000 lives and 100,000 more locked up in prison cells or brutally tortured.  The current war on drugs is soon to catch up with 2,500 lives killed, marking at least 35 deaths a day since President Rodrigo Duterte took his seat in Malacanang.

The bloody era further extended into the killing of Lumad leaders Dionel Campos and Datu Juvello Sinzo, as well as Emerico Samarca, executive director of the Lumad school Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development. At least 2,000 residents of Surigao del Sur fled in fear of the perpetrators, paramilitary forces Alamara and Mahagat-Bagani, in September 2015.

A year after what is now dubbed as the Lianga Massacre, the tally of summary killings against the Lumad has reached 58. Thousands remain in evacuation areas, with around 250 schools forced into closure because of the attacks against their tribes. What used to be homes of these indigenous people are now encampments of the 75^th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Attempts to expose these atrocities are crushed by the government itself, through baseless criminal charges and threats against leaders and volunteer workers active in anti-militarization campaigns.

Former President Benigno Aquino III’s eerie silence on the plight of the Lumad is consistent with the expansion of his counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which justified militarization for the benefit of greedy mining corporations out to exploit the Lumad’s ancestral lands.

During the start of his administration, Duterte promised the Lumad’s return to their homelands. Through the appointment of Environment Secretary Gina Lopez, 10 mining companies have already been ordered to stop operations for violating environmental standards. The People’s Mining Bill is now pending in Congress to replace the two-decade old Mining Act of 1995, which safeguards the interests of mining companies by allowing forces into ancestral lands.

Despite these changes, however, Duterte has yet to recognize the dangers imposed by the rampant militarization. His statement on leaving no Philippine soil unguarded by military forces grossly undermines the fear sown by their mere presence.

The spate of killings in the president’s war on drugs has also overshadowed the problems of these indigenous peoples, a tragedy no less than what the country experiences now.

Only when military forces are finally pulled out of the Lumad’s lands can they find a peaceful journey back. More so, returning to their routinely lives depends on the success of the peace talks currently underway between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

The peace talks serves as the solution to the country’s perennial problem on poverty, which prompted the now 40-year armed conflict between the New People’s Army and the AFP.

Strict compliance with the recently signed Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law would ensure the protection of the Lumad’s rights, as the document aims to bring justice to victims of human rights violations. No such resolution seems to exist today–perpetrators of violence were allowed to run free while Lumad leaders take the blame from the government.

In October, the Lumad will once again march to Manila in the annual Manilakbayan to demand for their rights. And so long as the people stand in solidarity with their fight, every trickle of blood spilled will soon be served with justice. ■

The post Terminal defense appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

■ Miriam P. Defensor

U.P. student elections stand in need of reform.

When President Romulo re-established the Student Council and thus paved the way for direct, university-wide student elections, this move was hailed as a simultaneous recognition of the need for student autonomy on the campus and for student training in the techniques of the political process. Previous to the President’s innovation, U.P. students had been governed by the Student Union, the composition of which was determined by an electoral college composed of representatives from the different units of the university. The electoral college system had proved itself inefficient and blatantly vulnerable to such corruptions as kidnapping of members. It was therefore widely felt that a system of direct student elections would be a purer and more challenging vehicle for student political activism.

In some measure, the present system of student elections served the purposes for which it was instituted. Reminiscent of the system in the original democracies of Greek city-states, it has endowed citizen participation in student government with the romance and idealism of history. Following the established American and European models, the present system gave the U.P. student a direct hand in the process of campus-building. He now became, in fact, a participating citizen of the Diliman community with pronounced rights and responsibilities.

The present system also had its uses in preparing student leaders for the mechanics of national politics. Campaigning among a constituency of about 15,000 student voters on three campuses, the student candidate learned to feel the public pulse and to pick up its rhythm, so that he would ultimately become its champion and protector. The studentry polarized into several political parties that vied for Council posts with the passion and fervor of national politicians.

But the electoral system gradually revealed deficiencies that today have become significant for the light they cast on the nature and quality of campus politics. The picture that faces the impartial observer is not flattering. In the first place, U.P. student elections have ceased to offer meaningful alternatives to the intelligent student-voter. Elections increasingly take on the tone of personality clashes without a delineation of issues for student enlightenment. The U.P. campus, traditional cradle of militant nationalists and citadel of the liberal orientation, is in danger of becoming a sterile playground for students who play at politics with a method that reminds one both of Machiavelli and Pollyana. Their tactics have become obvious over the past four years: meaningless sloganeering, accentuation of personal traits, and professional streamlining of a candidate’s curriculum vitae using the methods of Madison Avenue. Conducted in this manner, how can student elections be other than superficial and immature? Surely, the hallowed U.P. campus does not deserve such a desecration of its pristine commitments to democracy.

In the second place, U.P. student elections are becoming prohibitive in cost. There can be no serious objection to the estimate that each candidate for Chairman spends at least P2,000 and every candidate for University Councilor, at least P150 in a campaign season. A cursory survey of the voluminous propaganda literature currently being disseminated in the campus will sustain this estimate.

And in the third place, U.P. student elections are not worthy of the U.P. student, almost placing him on par with the semi-literate barrio voter. Our elections are imitative of national politics with all the wasteful brouhaha and pizzaz of the latter. It is a fact of student electoral life that partymen take turns in ripping down posters of the opponent. It is another such fact that the campaign season is occasionally punctuated by fisticuffs among students belonging to different sides of the political fence. It is in this milieu that students must abide the disruption of classes only to listen to the platitudes and demagoguery of embattled candidates.

Incontestably, there is a need for electoral reforms in the campus. First, an intelligent choice among valid party platforms must be insured by a system of convocations, debates and open forums featuring student candidates. University- or college-wide, these should be held at fixed schedules that will cause the least disruption of the academic work on campus. Second, election costs must be stabilized by shifting the burden of political candidacy from the candidate solely and to the studentry. This means that part of the Student Council funds should be appropriated for the publication of uniform campaign materials for each approved candidate. The candidate himself should be required to contribute only a small amount to this fund—an amount reasonably within the reach of the ordinary student, like fifty pesos.Outside of campaign materials authorized by the Student Council, propaganda matter coming from other sources should be strictly discouraged, if there are constitutional objections to their outright proscription. Third, a Student Comelec should be a deliberate movement to change the prevailing campus political mentality into the one that shall be sober, dignified, and mature in the best U.P. tradition.

We must have these reforms now. Lately, it has become clear that 1968 is the year of the student and the revolution he has fomented. Students are toppling governments and questioning ideologies in search of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. This mission is not new to the U.P. student. The U.P. has always been a critic and not a conserver of Philippine society. If national politics is sinking in the morass of its viciousness, that is no reason why we should conform and abdicate our function as harbingers of change. If the present generation is confused and alienated, this is no justification for abandoning valid student political activism and losing our capacity for constructive innovation.

Let us reform the U.P. student elections now. ■

The post UP Student Elections—An Appraisal appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

To stifle the voice of the people is democracy’s first failure. In this sense does the present government, and all the ones before it, continue the cycle of repression.

Records of violations against the press and the reigning culture of impunity are testament to the failure of the government to uphold the rights of its citizens. The utter disregard in enforcing the supposed constitutional right to free expression resulted to censorship and forced closure of media outfits under the Marcos regime, and the massacre of 32 journalists dubbed as the single deadliest attack against media men under Arroyo’s watch.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s rule over the past three months has triggered a different form of attack against the press. Tagged as biased and unfair by his ardent supporters, calls to boycott the media only grow with each criticism of the president’s actions. Most amusing is the call for international news outlets to “stop destabilizing the Philippines,” after Duterte’s profane remarks on world leaders attracted global attention.

The public’s protests against the media’s biases emanate from their blind admiration of the president. For them, to write critically about the war on drugs is to shoot down Duterte’s efforts in cleansing the country from crime and violence.

But what they fail to recognize is that bias is inherent in the media’s performance of their duty. As the watchdog of society, a critique of the government must serve as an eye-opener to those deluded by the change and progress promised to them.

This role of media, however, does not guarantee their immunity from mistakes. At present, reports tend to be boxed within the kind of “he-said she-said journalism” that disengages people from the full context of events. Rather than plain reportage, offering analyses will aid in building up social consciousness and sharper views among those who consume media content.

Nevertheless, no number of lapses would justify the harassment and repression these reporters experience. Allowing the administration to regulate the mass media would be to deprive society of the checks needed to balance our government. Only the media must regulate itself to ensure its independence, make the presence of bodies such as the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility of paramount importance.

In the end, the people must realize that progress stands not on the shoulders of just one person, but on their collective will to achieve it. Duterte is not the be-all and end-all of our country’s success. Support is necessary, but to offer it without criticism is the end of common sense as we know it.

The arguments proliferated by what are now dubbed as ‘Dutertards’ should also be seen as a population still hugely lacking in media literacy. The inclusion of a media literacy course in the K-12 curriculum has yet to yield concrete results, but this movement must start within the media itself, through improved reportage and stricter compliance with the ethical standards set by the profession.

When met with repression, the people’s sole reaction must be of militant dissent and mobilization. For an administration that encourages the persistence of such attacks deserves nothing but the strongest resistance. ■

The post State of surveillance appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

The numbers are as tragic as they come: 67 Lumad have been killed, more than 60,155 have forcibly fled their homes, 782 class suspensions were reported, and at least two evacuation centers have been torched to the ground.

President Benigno Aquino III promised in 2011 that his government will strengthen policies for the right of indigenous peoples. Five years have passed yet the Lumad people remain to be one of the largest victims of human rights violations. This utter disregard for the indigenous people’s rights constitutes not just an attack against humanity, but a slap toward the long history of their struggles to defend their own lands and heritage.

Abuses against the Lumad intensified over the past years. On September 2015, Lumad school director Emerlito Samarca and two others were brutally murdered in front of their students. The killing of a 15-year old Lumad student followed on January 18, and just a month after, suspected paramilitary agents burned down an evacuation center that housed Lumads in Davao City.

Instead of standing up with the Lumad, the government has chosen to side with the multinational companies that have been exploiting the Lumad’s ancestral lands, which arguably hold the richest deposits of gold and other minerals in the country.

The Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997, which supposedly protects the rights of the Lumad, has instead facilitated land grabbing by multinational companies. The introduction of the application process for land ownership only allowed the government to favor the claims of large mining companies over honoring ancestral domains.

Moreover, the 20-year old Mining Act of 1995 has done nothing but destroy the Lumad lands while raking in profit for large mining companies— profits confined only to the rich and few elite members. Granting incentives to companies for conducting mining activities is also a waste, since the mining industry has contributed only 0.72 percent in our 2015 gross domestic product.

These oppressive government policies thus heightened the resistance among the Lumad people. As response, thousands of military men were deployed in Mindanao to contain their forces, only to become the main culprits in perpetrating violence together with the Aquino-backed paramilitary groups.

Lumad leaders have also been consistently tagged as members of the rebel group New People’s Army, and are effectively seen as targets in counter-insurgency programs, then called Oplan Bantay Laya during the Arroyo administration and now restructured as Oplan Bayanihan under Aquino.

The Lumad’s calls to the government are simple: return to them their ancestral lands and stop the militarization in their communities. But these calls have remained unheard, as those brave enough to stand up for their rights are silenced- a tactic reminiscent of the Martial law era where people who resisted the administration were killed, tortured, or forcibly disappeared.

The protest caravan Manilakbayan in November last year showed the richness and diversity of the Lumad culture. Despite the countless deaths and military attacks that struck their areas, their campaign remains vigilant and strong. To bring justice to the fallen Lumad, Aquino must review his promise of ensuring the rights of all indigenous peoples, and turn his back on any entity that continues their exploitation.

The post Silenced wars appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

Marka ng bawat pakikibaka ang paglikha ng isang tindig. Ito ang diwa ng Lakbayan 2016–hindi patitinag ang 3,500 pambansang minorya upang muling igiit ang kanilang karapatan sa lupang minana at sariling pagpapasya, kasama ang kabataan at iba pang sektor sa kalunsuran.

Mga katutubo ang pangunahing biktima ng malawakang pagpapalit-gamit ng lupa, malakihang pagmimina, at militarisasyon dahil sa mayamang deposito ng mineral at yamang gubat sa kanilang lupa. Dagdag pa ang pagtotroso at mga proyektong may ganansyang kita para sa mga lokal at dayuhang negosyante, kapalit ng pagkawasak ng kapaligiran at pagbabakwit ng mga mamamayan.

Tinatayang 619,000 ektaryang lupang minana ang sinakop ng 246 operasyong aprubado sa ilalim ng Philippine Mining Act of 1995, batay sa tala ng Katribu noong 2015. Sa halip na katutubo, mga dayuhang kompanya lalo na mula sa Estados Unidos ang nakikinabang sa mineral ng Pilipinas, kung saan 97 porsyento ng produksyon ang napupunta sa mga dayuhang industriya, ayon sa IBON Foundation.

Naging instrumento pa ng dahas ang National Commission on Indigenous Peoples laban sa mga katutubo. Kasabwat ito ng Armed Forces of the Philippines sa pagsasagawa ng Oplan Bayanihan ng nakaraang administrasyon, na tumutugis sa sinumang kontra sa mga proyekto ng malalaking korporasyon.

Upang mas lalong hadlangan ang mga katutubo sa paglaban para sa karapatan, ginawang kampo ng mga militar ang mga eskwelahang itinayo upang magkaloob ng kaalamang rekisito sa pagkamulat. Halos isang taon na mula nang paslangin si Emerito Samarca, executive director ng isang paaralan para sa Lumad, ngunit wala pang hustisyang nakakamit.

Malinaw na nilalabag din ng estado ang karapatan sa sariling pagpapasya ng mga katutubo dahil sa mga patakarang may pagkiling sa pribadong interes. Kabilang na rito ang Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act of 1997 (IPRA) na nagbigay daan sa naglalakihang kumpanya para sa pangangamkam-lupa.

Mahigit 19 taon na nang ipatupad ang IPRA, ngunit nanatiling mailap ang kapayapaan para sa mga pambansang minorya dahil sa pagtindi ng paglabag sa kanilang mga karapatan. Panahon na upang wakasan ang pananamantalang ito—malaki ang kapasidad ng nagkakaisang mga sektor upang matulungan ang mga katutubo.

Makakamit lamang ang tagumpay kung magkakaroon ng tunay at pangmatagalang pagbabagong lipunan. Kagyat na aksyon ang pagpapalayas sa mga militar mula sa mga komunidad at pagpapatigil ng mga proyektong sanhi ng pagkawasak ng mga katutubong lupain, kasama ang mga korporasyong dayuhan na pansariling ganansya ang habol sa bansa.

Kasunod nito ang pagsulong ng mga sosyo-ekonomikong repormang nakapaloob sa kasalukuyang usaping pangkapayapaan sa Oslo, Norway. Nararapat maibasura ang mga palisiya gaya ng Mining Act at IPRA, at ipalit ang mga programang magkakaloob ng mga batayang serbisyo sa mga katutubo: edukasyon, pangkalusugan, kuryente, tubig, at pabahay.

Matagumpay man ang naging unang kampuhan sa UP Diliman noong 2015, hindi rito nagtatapos ang laban. Hinihingi mula sa mga kabataan at kawani ng pamantasan na mas iangat ang kamulatan ng bawat indibidwal sa sitwasyon ng minoryang hindi tanaw sa kalunsuran.

Ngunit higit kailanman, patuloy na suporta sa bawat kampanya ng mga pambansang minorya ang kailangan mula sa mga mamamayan. Naghihintay ang mas malaking epasyo sa labas ng pamantasan na siyang lunsaran sa paggigiit at paninindigan para sa karapatan ng mga mamamayan. ■

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Nagbabadya ang isang sakuna: isang panibagong patakarang panlabas na nakakubli sa tabing ng pakikipagalyansang tagibang. Nagpahayag man si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ng tuluyang separasyon ng Pilipinas mula sa Estados Unidos (US), napipinto naman ang pagpapatali ng bansa sa mga bagong kasunduan kasama ang iba pang dayuhan.

Matagal nang ipinapanawagan ng taumbayan ang tunay na kasarinlan ng bansa. Matindi ang impluwensya ng US sa ekonomiya ng Pilipinas sa loob ng halos apat na dekada, na pinaigting pa ng mga kasunduang nagpahintulot sa kanila upang bumuo ng mga base militar sa bansa.

Bagaman may pagkilala si Duterte sa pangangailangang kumawala sa kontrol ng US, kasabay nito ang pagpapahiwatig niya ng pakikipagalyansa sa ibang imperyalistang bansa, lalo na sa Tsina. Nito lamang Oktubre, pumunta si Duterte sa Tsina at nag-uwi ng $24 bilyong halagang pampuhunan sa pagpapatayo ng mga imprastrakturaꟷbagay na dapat bantayan ng taumbayan.

Tulad ng US, may pansariling interes na nais itaguyod ang Tsina. Kasalukuyang isinusulong nito ang Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) kasama ang mga bansa sa Timog-Silangang Asya, na may iisang layuning tinutumbok ng TransPacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) ng US—pagpapaigting sa malayang kalakalan sa rehiyong sakop ng kasunduan.

Ngunit kakabit ng pagpapatibay ng malayang kalakaran ang pagkamatay ng mga lokal na industriya ng mga papaunlad na bansa, batay sa pag-aaral ng IBON Foundation. Sa mahabang panahon ng globalisasyon, dala ng mga ganitong kasunduan ang higit na pagpabor sa mga dayuhang namumuhunan, habang pasakit naman sa mga magsasaka at manggagawang tumatanggap ng mababang sahod.

Bukod pa rito, gumagawa na ng mga istratehiya ang Tsina na lalong magbibigay sa kanya ng kontrol sa global na ekonomiya.

Habang matatag ang presensya ng militar ng US sa Pilipinas at iba pang bansa sa Asya, bumubuo na ang Tsina ng una nitong panlabas na base sa Djibouti, Aprika kalapit mismo ng itinayo ng US at Japan. Kilala ang Djibouti bilang estratehikong posisyon dahil nasa bukana ito ng Red Sea at Indian Oceanꟷdaanan ng mga bapor na nagdadala ng mga kalakal at produkto.

Hindi nalalayo sa Pilipinas, mayroon na ring mga itinayong pasilidad ang Tsina sa pinag-aagawang teritoryo sa West Philippine Sea (WPS), tulad ng paliparan at mga fishing vessel sa Bajo de Masinloc. Humigit-kumulang $25 trilyong halaga ng langis na nakaimbak sa mga pinag-aagawang teritoryo, dagdag pa ang yamang dagat na makukuha rito.

Matagal nang sabik ang sambayanan sa tunay na pagbabago at panahon na upang igiit ito. Panimulang tagumpay ang nakamit ng bansa matapos ang inilabas na desisyon ng Permanent Court of Arbitration na kumikilala sa karapatan ng Pilipinas sa WPSꟷito ang magiging tuntungan sa pagpapanawagan ng iba pang pangmatagalang reporma.

Ang pagbabagong ikinakampanya sa ilalim ng bagong termino ay dapat i-angkla sa pagtatatag ng isang tunay na nagsasariling patakarang panlabas. Kagyat ang pagbabasura sa mga pinasok na kasunduang militar ng gobyerno tulad ng Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement at pagsiyasat sa mga hindi patas na kasunduan sa ilalim ng World Trade Organization ukol sa ekonomiya.

Kasabay nito ang pagsulong ng pambansang industriyalisasyon. Sagana ang bansa sa mga yamang mineral na rekisito sa pagbuo ng makabagong teknolohiyang kailangan ng bansa, gayundin sa iba pang likas na yaman na maaaring i-proseso upang maging ganap na produkto.

Ang tunay na kasarinlan at pagbabago ay makakamit lamang  sa nagkakaisang suporta ng taumbayan. Dapat manatiling kritikal ang mga Pilipino sa lahat ng kasunduang pinapasok ng bansa upang matiyak na hindi dayuhan ang kinakatigan nito. ■

The post Huwad na Pagpanig appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

The spirit of the mass movement burns alive in the youth today. What filled the streets after the late dictator’s sudden burial was an image reminiscent of their historic role during Martial Lawꟷa nationwide march crying out that the people did not forget.

The Marcos family’s move to sneak the late dictator into the Libingan ng mga Bayani plays ode to the thievery they masterfully did in the past. While the Marcoses’ role in our country’s historical revisionism cannot be undermined, the past administrations that allowed the culture of impunity to reign have laid the groundwork for these crooks to steer their way back to power.

Failure to expose Marcos for the power-hungry dictator that he truly was produced generations who doubted the atrocities he committed. President Rodrigo Duterte’s picture of Marcos as a great president and decorated war veteran has also been one of the greatest catalysts that allowed his burial, backed up by a high court whose sole concern is to give closure by ruling in favor of the perpetrator, not the victims.

The decision to accept this closure and move on is exactly the false sense of national healing the Marcoses want us to follow. But the vigor of the people will prove this futile. The state’s continuing cycle of revisionism will be its ultimate downfall, inciting revolution from the masses too fed up with the dominant forces at play.

The youth must intensify the tradition of activism, the way they did when they barricaded UP Diliman in the historic Diliman Commune of 1971. The likes of then UP students Bonifacio Ilagan who led the First Quarter Storm Movement, and Jose Marie Sison who founded the Kabataang Makabayan shall once again rise to defeat the ghost of the dictator that continues to haunt us.

Just as student leaders fought the dictatorship, the campus press did not bow down to the challenge of informing the people despite media repression at the time. The Collegian, along with student publications such as Ang Malaya and Pandayan continued to deliver true accounts of the state of the nation as part of the mosquito press. Not only did the campus press serve students, they also became a vital source for those outside the university who refused to be fooled by the lies of the Marcoses.

The youth today may not have been alive to live the terrors of Martial Law, but the society continues to mirror the repression and attacks set out by the dominant elite against the masses. With victims of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre still without justice, or those responsible for the 58 killed in the Maguindanao Massacre still at large today, the dictator’s era remains with us.

It is no wonder then how the youth still walk out of their classes to protest in the streets. There is an urgent need to educate and open the minds of those who refuse to see the true side of history. Lest that there be another generation of Marcos loyalists, the country’s education system must be reformed to include the stories of Martial Law veterans. Only when the voice of the oppressed becomes the dominant narrative shall we escape the dictator’s trap.

So long as Marcos rests in the land reserved for martyrs and heroes, the people will exhaust all extralegal measures to correct this mockery. Even after the Luneta protest on November 25 against historical revisionism and state fascism, the youth shall continuously struggle with the masses to counter any policy which proves to be anti-people.

The streets will be the stage toward a new society, fueled to life by the people’s dissent. ■

The post Mass revolt appeared first on Philippine Collegian.

In defending our rights, there is no room for compromise. We must not yield, much so when a legal document turns over our rights unto the administration’s hands.

Proponents of the UP Diliman Students’ Magna Carta have long been pursuing the passage of the document, believing that codification guarantees the rights of the students—it is binding and enforceable against any member of the UP community. They attest to its worth by pointing at its democratic roots: from the crafting to the referendum process it has undergone for two years.

But while it is pegged as a tool to empower, the document reeks of several provisions which defeat its purpose of defending our rights as students.

For one, the last provision of the Magna Carta clearly stipulates that the final interpretation of the whole document rests upon the Board of Regents (BOR), who in fact are the main engineers of the many anti-student policies known to UP. It legitimizes the power of the very same people who rented out the campus grounds to businessmen for profit, and allowed the delay of the enrolment process in several UP units by use of the eUP project.

Another point of contention is the reinforcement of the BOR’s capacity to impose tuition hikes and other school fees as long as they conduct consultations with the students. History has witnessed that any form of consultation between the administration and the students always stood bogus. Several accounts from different universities emphasize how students were informed of the increase only after final decisions from the administration were made, and even misleading them to sign attendance sheets as form of approving tuition hikes.

Just on the following grounds, the Magna Carta puts unnecessary limits to our rights—sending signals that we can only struggle up to the limits of law and bureaucracy.

To criticize the Magna Carta is not to devalue the efforts of those who invested time and effort to its crafting—it is for us to learn from our mistakes in the past. Students had supported the Campus Journalism Act (CJA) of 1991 and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memo No. 3 in attempts to codify our rights. But years after, these were used by the government bureaucrats to curtail press freedom and right to accessible education.

There is also a need to be critical of the players behind the Magna Carta. These are the same groups who devalued collective action and clung on to paper-based reforms. Case in point are the reforms lobbied for in the Socialized Tuition System, which until now tags students to false tuition discounts and posts majority of appeal results weeks beyond the end of registration. These are the same groups who called for the defunding of student-run publication Philippine Collegian, which is one to uphold the democratic rights of the youth and other sectors beyond UP.

Ultimately, the clamor for the Magna Carta creates an illusion that the high point of our struggle can be reduced to the passage of a piece of paper. It is therefore myopic in the long term, for it glosses over the root causes of inaccessibility and unaffordability of UP education and the threats, violations, and restrictions on our democratic rights.

Supporting the document disregards the fact that the student movement continues to fight against these very policies: the UP Charter which places the BOR as the highest-policy making body in the university, CJA, and CHED Memo No. 3, among others.

Reforms should serve not to stifle, but to further our battles. We, the students, should clamor then for an alternative document which is true to its form of serving our interests. The student body must continuously engage with issues concerning our rights, so as learning the importance of fighting for it against the interests of the administration.

For real battles are not won through mere strokes of a pen, or flimsy pieces of paper, but through real collective action. ■

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