USC Vice Chairperson-elect JP delas Nieves on the Philippine Daily Inquirer

(See the original Philippine Daily Inquirer article HERE.)

Son of trike driver, veggie vendor shines as UP student leader

by Julie M. Aurelio

Philippine Daily Inquirer

To make ends meet, his father works as a tricycle driver while his mother sells vegetables. Neither of them reached college, something they now want badly for their eldest child “JP” to finish.

But on Thursday, John Paul de las Nieves made his parents proud not only with his high grades but with his campus leadership. The Economics senior and candidate for cum laude won the vice chairmanship of the student council of the University of the Philippines Diliman.

“If you really want to make something out of yourself, nothing is impossible. Poverty is not a reason. Instead it should drive you to do better,” he said in an Inquirer interview after his poll victory.

Graduating this April, 19-year-old JP is set to take up a master’s course also in economics and will start serving his term in the council in the next school year. The chairmanship went to his party-mate, Arjay Mercado.

Scholarship

A product of Mandaluyong Science High School, De las Nieves recalled spending summer vacations helping his mother Amelita sell vegetables on the sidewalk. On a good day she makes around P1,000, and this is added to the P500 earned by his father Pacifico, who drives a tricycle to help feed a family of five in Barangay Hagdan Bato, Mandaluyong City.

A scholarship from the office of Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales helped De Las Nieves through his four years in UP, where he would be graduating with a general weighted average of 1.57.

Thursday’s election win would allow him to continue what he started in his current capacity as councilor. He won again under the party Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP ALYANSA), which got 16 out of 34 positions in the USC.

Last year, as head of a council committee, he focused on the concerns of students staying in the dormitories, especially those in need of funds to continue their studies. He also met students from UP Tacloban who were displaced by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” personally helping them find new homes.

‘Eye-opener’

“That experience was an eye-opener. It made me realize what an honor it is to be able to help my fellow students,” he said. “And I notice that the busier I get, the more I get better grades. I study better when I am with friends.”

Though his tuition and lodging are covered by the scholarship, De las Nieves said he still had to watch his personal expenses and make do with the weekly allowance—P1,000 or less—that he gets from his father.

“I am really proud of my parents. I wouldn’t be where I am now if it weren’t for them and our experiences as a family,” he said. “I am thankful that even though my parents only reached high school, I was able to enter UP. I won’t stop dreaming and reaching for these dreams just because my parents didn’t have a college education.” ###

Ngayon ang simula ng ating #BagongUSC! MARAMING SALAMAT, UP DILIMAN!

UP Diliman, sila ang maghahatid ng #BagongUSC sa susunod na taon! 

Nagpapasalamat sina Arjay, JP at ang buong UP ALYANSA sa suporta at tiwala na binigay nyo sa panawagang makabuo ng konsehong nakikinig sa kwento ng bawat Iskolar para sa Bayan! 

SIMULA NA NG #BAGONGUSC!

Iba’t ibang kulay – Ito ang angkop na paglalarawan sa mga salitang narinig natin nitong nakaraang mga araw. May kaaya-aya, ngunit mayroon ding hindi maganda sa pandinig. May mga pangako. May mga palusot. May mga panloloko’t panlilinlang. Subalit hindi tayo dapat magpalunod sa ingay. Hindi tayo dapat magparindi sa retorika.

Hindi tayo magpapalihis dahil alam natin kung saan tayo patungo. Sabay-sabay tayong nakatutok at gumagalaw papunta sa isang UP kung saan dinig ang kuwento ng bawat Iskolar sa gitna ng mga sigaw.

Hindi tayo magpapalihis dahil malinaw sa atin ang ating layunin. Sama-sama tayo sa pagbuo muli ng isang University Student Council kung saan inuuna ang paglilingkod na hindi naaantala – isang Konsehong binubuo ng mga kasaping may pagpapahalaga sa tungkulin sa kapwa mag-aaral at mamamayan.

Hindi tayo magpapalihis dahil may tiwala tayong hindi rin magpapalihis ang bawat mag-aaral ng UP. Taglay ng bawat Iskolar ng Bayan ang pag-iisip na ginagabayan ng pagiging matalino at kritikal, na siyang magtatakda sa ating pagdedesisyon sa eleksyon. Magkakasama tayo sa paniniwalang boto ang tugon natin sa ating mga narinig nitong nakaraang mga araw, maganda man o hindi.

Sa darating na Huwebes, ika-27 ng Pebrero, paparating na tayo. Sa araw ng eleksyon para sa University Student Council, paparating na ang pagbabago. Simula na ng BAGONG USC.

ARJAY MERCADO for USC Chairperson!

JP DELAS NIEVES for USC Vice Chairperson!

VOTE STRAIGHT ALYANSA SA USC ON THURSDAY!

#BagongUSC, Bagong Kuwento ng Paglilingkod!

I am a UP student. I wasn't able to get the STFAP bracket that I needed, but someone told me that my dreams didn't end there and that we could still do something about it.

I am a UP student. I'm gay and I was afraid to come out, but someone convinced me to live free and that I am safe in the University.

I am a UP student. I'm part of a fraternity, but someone made me realize that we are part of the solution in ending the culture of violence in our circles.

I am a UP student. My dorm has problems I thought I'd just have to live with, but someone reached out and said we’d work on them together.

I am a UP student. I used to believe that grades were everything, but someone showed me that there are lessons still to be learned beyond the classroom.

We are UP students, each with a different story to tell, but united in a shared narrative of trials and triumphs. In getting through our struggles, there will always be those with whom we share our fears, our hopes, and our dreams.

Imagine a University Student Council composed of fellow students which, far from being a passive fixture, becomes an active partner in our unfolding journeys; one that measures its relevance not simply by projects and programs, but also by the difference that it makes in the story of the Iskolar and the Filipino.

Envision an institution of student leaders which recognizes that contexts and ideas are in constant flux, and responds to them not by insisting on outdated lenses, but by being open to all perspectives for progressive change; one that does not rely on archaic modes of action, but instead adopts solutions as dynamic as the challenges themselves. While we recognize that the only thing constant is change, we see that beyond this, what is truly constant are our principles within these changes.

This is our University Student Council – a USC with a new story of leadership and service that embodies engagement, relevance, and innovation; a USC that takes the experiences of each student and weaves them into the collective epic of the National University and society.

Kaya nating bumuo ng bagong USC. Simulan na natin ang bagong kuwento ng paglilingkod.

ARJAY MERCADO for USC Chairperson!

JP DELAS NIEVES for USC Vice Chairperson!

VOTE STRAIGHT UP ALYANSA SA USC

ON FEBRUARY 27!

Principled disagreement and anonymous black propaganda: A challenge

Over the past few days, I have been receiving reports of anonymous efforts to bring down Alex Castro in the race for USC Chair. As a fellow candidate and in behalf of UP ALYANSA, I wish to voice my strongest condemnation against these malicious attempts.

The campaign is a time not just to show off each candidate's and each political party's strengths and victories, but also a time to educate and to engage in a healthy, passionate, and principled discourse.

In the earlier part of this week, members of ALYANSA made a principled disagreement with Alex Castro's citation of wrong information on the sin tax law. Rooted in our advocacy to make this campaign more about platforms and less about personalities, we demanded an apology from Alex Castro and a retraction of the misinformation that the 15% allocation for tobacco farmers has been stricken off the sin tax law. To this day, we have not received any apology or retraction; so, our principled disagreement and demand continue.

But when a supposed screenshot of an alleged chat conversation between Alex and a "friend" cropped up, I was personally disappointed. Today, a perverted statement entitled "Sex Will Fix" was released in different areas in campus.

These are exactly what ALYANSA has been campaigning against. While we make sure to maintain our principled disagreement with Alex Castro and KAISA on the level of issues and platforms, efforts like these serve as roadblocks to our dream of an informed student body.

The anonymity of these efforts reveals exactly their purpose: Nothing more than to regress to personality politics and blur this campaign into becoming a pageant of reputations rather than clear platforms. I personally challenge the people behind these efforts to come into the open and make a principled choice to inform, rather than to maliciously attack. I challenge the people behind these to reveal their identities and the USC Chair candidate they support, if any, so the students may decide for themselves what to make of the propaganda.

As student leaders, it is our duty to inform and shape the debates in campus to become a discourse of principles, integrity, ideology, and platforms. This campaign is not about me; it is not about Alex Castro's alleged chat messages or motives. This campaign is about the students and their right to make an informed choice on their next University Student Council.




Carlo Brolagda
ALYANSA USC Chairperson candidate
February 20, 2013

WE MADE HISTORY.

WE MADE HISTORY.

In a year, we passed in Congress the reproductive health and sin tax bills into laws. Through mass mobilizations and various direct negotiations, we convinced the government to increase the budget for the University and other state universities and colleges. After decades of systemic corruption and misgovernment, we detained former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and impeached her former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

In a year, we have mainstreamed the discourse of gender equality in campus. We stood firm in our condemnation of fraternity-related violence and, for the first time, filed a case as students against warring fraternities. We have institutionalized fiscal transparency and mechanisms of accountability in the USC. We have freed the USC from its former captivity in outdated dogma and transformed it into a body truly reflective of our passions and aspirations.

Today we are at a critical juncture, faced with an obvious choice: Do we continue our momentum of progressive change or do we fall back into irrelevance and empty rhetoric?

ITULOY NATIN ANG NAPAGTAGUMPAYAN. Our victories have only begun. As we weave our individual stories of hopes and dreams, we realize that, as a collective, we are headed towards one destination. As we build on our successes, we affirm our shared journey towards genuine student empowerment, social justice, and social progress.

PARA SA UP. In the advancement of our rights and welfare as Iskolars para sa Bayan, we abandon intangible promises and choose concrete solutions. We refuse sloganeering by merely opposing. We choose to propose. We have chosen to forward amendments based on students’ rights which have been successfully incorporated into the Code of Student Conduct. We choose a more just and equitable system of socialized tuition. We choose to formalize our freedoms and liberties with a national law on students’ rights and welfare.

PARA SA BAYAN. As we fight for the marginalized, oppressed, and powerless sectors in our society, we go beyond oversimplified classifications. We engage government from the outside and within. We refuse to battle wrongs with another wrong. We choose to be proactive. We have chosen to challenge impunity and patronage politics with a freedom of information law. We choose to end indecent labor conditions with a security of tenure law. We choose to address gender inequality with an anti-discrimination law.

Victory after victory, our choice becomes clearer: We choose to continue making history.

ITULOY NATIN ANG NAPAGTAGUMPAYAN. PARA SA UP, PARA SA BAYAN!

Carlo Brolagda for USC Chairperson!

Alex Santos for USC Vice Chairperson!

VOTE STRAIGHT ALYANSA SA USC ON FEBRUARY 28!

 

ITULOY NATIN ANG NAPAGTAGUMPAYAN. PARA SA UP, PARA SA BAYAN!

Abusing the Right to Free Speech: A Response to the Death Threats Directed to USC Chair Heart Diño

UP ALYANSA strongly condemns the death threats directed to USC Chairperson Heart Diño.

Heart Diño, being the Chairperson of the University Student Council, is a public figure to the student body. She has the right to act and voice her opinions in her personal capacity, yet her actions will always be subjected to public scrutiny. Recently, her actions and opinions have received such criticisms and contentions. We respect this circumstance but for several cases it has gone too far: certain people have threatened to hurt or even kill her. These cases exceed what is warranted as free speech or opinionated criticism. These threats of violence must not be tolerated.

The first few death threats came immediately after Heart’s election as USC Chair. Although these threats were made online, they must not be taken lightly. For one, a certain Rey Refran is calling for others to participate in her assassination. The violent tone is evident as he threatened to “plant a bullet in her” and even offered to personally “be the hitman”. Aside from these, several comments also attack Heart on the aspect of her gender, referring to her derogatorily. Such violent and despicable statements cannot be accepted. Although we exercise the right to free speech, this right must be exercised responsibly; criticism can be reasonably presented without violence or prejudice towards any person's gender, race, beliefs, etc.

As Iskolars para sa Bayan, we cannot condone such threats of violence. We must be careful to ensure that the criticisms we present are sensible and sensitive, not promoting violence or hate.

All For Quality, Relevant and Accessible Education: An Education Budget Manifesto

An Education Budget Manifesto supported by

the University Student Council (USC)

and UP Diliman's three major political parties:

UP ALYANSA, KAISA UP, and STAND UP.

For Transparency and Accountability: UP ALYANSA continues with its USC WATCH

UP ALYANSA's USC WATCH letter addressed to the USC Chairperson, Heart Diño:

"The USC Watch is a project initiated by UP ALYANSA in the hopes of making the USC more reachable to the UP populace. It provides a blow-by-blow account of the ongoing USC Committee Deliberations and updates on different USC initiated projects. As the USC General Assembly is open to everyone, this endeavor is a way to inform the students about the pertinent issues discussed in the general assembly. Moreover, this can provide an avenue for higher student participation in the USC campaigns, services, and activities. The USC Watch serves as an independent body covering the USC and as a leadership and service formation; it is incumbent upon us to monitor the highest representative body of the students so as we can provide check and balances with integrity."

WE MADE HISTORY. Maraming salamat, UP!

Maraming, maraming, maraming salamat mga Iskolar para sa Bayan! ♥

TARA, simulan ang pagbabago!

Mula ngayon hanggang sa hinaharap, TAYO ANG USC.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE HISTORY!

Tara, simulan natin ang pagbabago kasama sina...

HEART DIÑO FOR USC CHAIRPERSON!

ACE LIGSAY FOR USC VICE CHAIRPERSON!

VOTE STRAIGHT ALYANSA SA USC ON MARCH 1!

Iskolar para sa Bayan, TAYO ANG USC.

ALYANSA Leadership Statement 2012: TAYO ANG USC

UP students actively shape our country’s history. To do this, we are brought together by the University Student Council. The USC is in the best position to unite our diversely talented student body and direct it towards the good of our nation. As the challenges we face change over time, so too does the USC evolve to represent the best our people has to offer.

To meet today's new challenges, the USC must evolve once more.

In the pursuit of relevant, quality, and accessible education, the USC must transcend partisanship to attain progressive change. While diverse and multi-perspective, the UP student body is brought together by a common desire to learn and serve. We need a USC that creates spaces for dialogue and collaboration. ALYANSA calls for a USC defined by diversity and united for progress, not crippled by blind loyalties and dogma but led with accountable leadership and principled politics.

To confront the threat against campus safety and security, we need a USC that will be firm in its resolve to fight all forms of violence - from petty crimes to fraternity-related incidents. We need a leadership that will go beyond condemnation and template solutions, and be open to consultation and innovative proposals. ALYANSA calls for a USC defined not by "brotherhood" but by community.

Faced with a diverse community in terms of background and belief, the USC must address the needs of each of these groups through relevant campaigns, activities, and services. Only direct consultation and engagement with our diverse student body can empower the USC to serve and represent us. ALYANSA calls for a USC defined not by petty division but by respect for diversity.

Ultimately, the USC must be an example of the good governance that our nation relentlessly pursues. To do this, we scholars must go beyond our shortcomings and tap into our infinite potential as a nation. This task is daunting, but as UP students, we owe it to the people that sacrifice for our education to take on this challenge.

The USC can be so much more because we are the USC.

TARA, SIMULAN ANG PAGBABAGO! ISKOLAR PARA SA BAYAN, TAYO ANG USC.

Tara, simulan ang pagbabago! Iskolar para sa Bayan, TAYO ANG USC.

In Good Faith

The USC WATCH is a project initiated by UP ALYANSA. Simply, it provides a blow-by-blow account of the ongoing USC Committee Deliberations plus announcements and updates on projects of the USC. The WATCH aimed to be non-partisan in providing updates on what the USC is doing inside and outside of the GA. It aimed to bring the USC closer to the students, and aimed to make the USC the transparent and accountable institution that it's supposed to be.

Sadly, not everyone can work in the spirit of good faith albeit this is what their words profess. During the Committee Deliberations of the USC dated May 18, 2011, Wednesday, members of the University Student Council manifested their strong opinions against the WATCH. Their points ranged on the implications of the WATCH are as follows:

1. The updates were partisan and biased.

2. Several Council members who are not members of ALYANSA were made to look bad by misquoting them and/or taking what they were saying out of context.

3. The Watch is stepping on the rights of the USC to provide updates to the students, specifically, it was stepping on the rights of the Secretary General and the Mass Media Committee to do their duties effectively.

4. The Watch provided a venue for the students to bash other USC members. It was promoting a culture of disrespect given the insults thrown at the USC members.

5. Members of ALYANSA were cited as doing criminal acts of libel, given the claimed misquotes in the WATCH, and stealing of intellectual property, given the uploaded committee proposals of various USC members without their permission.

6. Members of ALYANSA who were doing the WATCH were threatened that cases of libel and intellectual property rights violation would be filed against them should they continue with the WATCH.

We in ALYANSA manifest our strong disappointment and dissent to the USC's reaction with regard to the WATCH, and the USC's action to curtail an independent and autonomous formation, no matter how politically-oriented it is. The words hurled at the formation, plus the threats that we received make us shudder at the curtailment of our rights as an organization to forward a project that was initiated in good faith to bring the USC closer to the students and live through our continuing vision— "Kasama Ka sa USC, Kasama ka sa ALYANSA."

With regard to the forwarded implications of members of the USC, here is what we have to say:

We aimed for the updates to be non-partisan. The posts simply reflected what members of the USC articulated during the Deliberations. However, we do not claim perfection that is why we have always been open to corrections. There were multiple ways to correct the updates— i.e. via commenting, or communicating with any of the members of ALYANSA. We never aimed for any members of other political formations to look bad, nor did we aim to make members of ALYANSA in the USC look good. We only posted and reported what we witnessed. Again, as stipulated many times in our disclaimer, the posts in the USC WATCH are unofficial. We encouraged the students to check the official minutes of the USC meetings prepared by the Secretary General to be able to countercheck our posts. Despite our nature as a political formation, and despite the fact that given our nature whatever we post will always be seen as biased no matter how unbiased we try to be, we can only hope that our acts be seen and recognized in good faith.

We agree, however, that the WATCH became a venue for different groups to attack the USC members, which we tried to prevent by posting constant reminders in the page to only make relevant and responsible comments; and deleting negative comments. In the end though, everyone still has the right to forward whatever they have to say with regard to our public leaders. The fact that the Council members are elected publicly and popularly already subjects them to a wider scope of scrutiny and they should be open-minded enough to hear criticism at its worst and praises at its best. We can only do so much in controlling these comments.

With regard to the criminal accusations—we abhor these threats and unthought-of words. To accuse an organization that you are supposed to represent in the USC with multiple criminal threats without even trying to consult first or talk to it privately to address the issue is a strong contradiction to the ideals and principles that the USC is supposed to uphold. To mindlessly accuse us of libel when there was no malicious intent, to indict us with theft of intellectual property by posting the proponents’ General Plans of Action when, owing to the fact that these proposals are the USC's plans for the students, they should be open to the public is disappointing for an institution that is supposed to be transparent and accountable.

In the end, the comments of our USC is very much noted and still respected in spite of the fact that the same respect cannot be shown to us. This statement is to formally inform the USC in an open response that we will continue with the WATCH not for our own partisan interest—which is a very low assumption of why we're doing this – but because and only because we believe that the highest representative body of UPD which is our USC should continue to uphold transparency, accountability, responsibility, and accessibility.

To address the concerns raised though, the following actions will be taken:

1. Should there be any comments or corrections with regard to the WATCH, the members of the Executive Committee posted in the page may be contacted for corrections.

2. The students are still highly encouraged to check and countercheck the updates from the USC WATCH with the USC Updates and to check the official minutes of the meetings of the USC.

3. The moderators will delete negative and senseless comments to prevent attacks on our USC members.

ALYANSA remains to be an independent, autonomous and principled political formation, and we ask for the USC to recognize this. The USC WATCH will resume tomorrow beginning with posts from the Committee Deliberations on the Basic Student Services Committee dated last May 18, 2011.