UP ALYANSA: December 2011

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Pagbati mula sa UP ALYANSA ngayong Pasko

Iskolar para sa Bayan... Pailawin ang PAG-ASA.

Bumabati ang UP ALYANSA ng isang Mapayapa at Makabuluhang Pasko!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

GASC 2011: On the Alleged Online Campaign to 'UNSEAT THE SR'

December 21, 2011, 12:20PM: ALYANSA Chairperson Tin Borja received text messages from council members in the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) clarifying if ALYANSA is indeed moving for the "Unseating of the Student Regent". This is due to the announcement made by the Student Regent in the GASC where ALYANSA is alleged to have started an online campaign to UNSEAT THE SR.

As of 12:40PM, ALYANSA Chairperson, in a phone conversation with the Student Regent clarified that the no such move is being done by the formation. The SR has announced the same to the body.

As the formation is directly implicated, we strongly condemn these false accusations against the formation that we are for the unseating of the Student Regent. We are disgusted that any group can sink this low to spread such lowly rumors against the formation.

ALYANSA believes in safeguarding our democratic right to representation in the University's policy-making bodies and other avenues. Hand in hand with this is securing transparency and accountability in all levels of student government in pursuit of student empowerment. With this, we remain steadfast in our commitment to work towards strengthening student institutions through principled methods of engagement and never through counterproductive means.

We call upon all the students to remain vigilant and critical with the flood of false rumors being propagated. Albeit divides and differences in debates, ALYANSA will continue to engage the institution that is the OSR through legal, constitutional, and substantial means, as we have done so in the past.

Iskolar para sa Bayan, kasama ka sa malinis at marangal na laban para sa pagpapatibay ng demokrasya sa Opisina ng Rehente ng mga Mag-aaral.

ALYANSA for [S]ecuring [R]epresentation

Every year, the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC), composed of our elected student council members from the constituent units of the University, convenes to ratify the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection or the CRSRS, a document that serves as the "rule book" for the selection process of the Student Regent.

Being the only student member chosen among our ranks to represent us in the highest decision-making body on campus which is the Board of Regents (BOR), the Student Regent is undeniably, an important position as the office stands to represent our interests. As the policies of the Board of Regents directly affect our welfare as students, the necessity of student representation in this body must be placed in the highest premium.

Thus, recognizing the fundamental importance of the Office of the Student Regent as a force for forwarding what is right and just to further uphold student empowerment, the necessity of a democratic selection process to ensure the transparency and accountability of our highest representative should also be put into place.

It is with this premise that UP ALYANSA, guided by its pillars of academic excellence, student empowerment and progressive multiperspective activism, steadfastly forwards reforms in the selection of the Student Regent to ensure that participatory mechanisms and real democracy prevail.

UP ALYANSA is for the Minimum Academic Requirement as a criterion for all Student Regent nominees. A student leader is, first and foremost, a ‘student’ of the University, and fulfilling such a responsibility must also be aimed towards ensuring that the taxes paid by our people in investing with our education are not put to waste. The recent vacancies in the Office of the Student Regent due to academic delinquency show the necessity of such reform. It is a disservice to the students if we allow the loss of representation in the BOR to happen once again as it continuously makes decisions and policies that affect the entire student population of the UP System.

UP ALYANSA is for a ‘One College, One Vote’ Allocation Provision. The unequal and unjust voting allocation in the Student Regent selection (2 votes each for Diliman, Manila, Los Baños, Baguio, Visayas, and Mindanao; and 1 vote each for Pampanga, Cebu, Iloilo City, Tacloban, and Baler) has given rise to the disenfranchisement and disempowerment of a broad segment of UP students. For instance, the 5,000 students of the UPD College of Engineering have to scramble for an insignificant 0.1 vote with the 19 other colleges in Diliman (following the 2-vote allocation for UP Diliman), while the 2,400 students of UP Baguio receive the full two votes.

UP ALYANSA is for the deletion of Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP) in the CRSRS. While we recognize the contribution of this alliance in the establishment of the Office of the Student Regent, such historical account has no place in a set of rules outlining the Student Regent selection process. In addition, KASAMA sa UP is not representative of the entire UP student population as many university and college student councils are not part of the alliance. To make the Student Regent selection process truly democratic, it must recognize the multiperspectivism in the student councils that choose the Student Regent.

As the GASC commences in UP Visayas, Iloilo, UP ALYANSA and its member-organizations throw its full support to the progressive university and college student councils that will carry our reforms during the deliberations. UP ALYANSA also urges our fellow Iskolars para sa Bayan to join us in securing representation through the Office of the Student Regent, which is supposed to be our highest bastion of democratic representation and participation. Make your voices heard through all channels possible in delivering our collective and resounding call for a progressive selection process for our Student Regent.

Iskolar para sa Bayan, kasama ka sa malinis at marangal na laban para sa pagpapatibay ng demokrasya sa Opisina ng Rehente ng mga Mag-aaral.