12/12/2013
“Only through militant struggle can the best in the youth emerge. “ Tomorrow, December 13, 2013 will be the 1293rd BOR meeting. It may be a head to head meeting of administration to a pro-student institution, though we may not be able to enter the BOR Conference room to voice-out our concerns, we must prove the student-power through garnering more support from students from all UP units and organize actions in front of the Quezon Hall of UP Diliman. In that way, the administrator’s underlying principle of dividing students from the STFAP scheme that hinders us from uniting to fight for an education that is accessible may not be permitted.
Years have passed and policies like the STFAP has been thriving and still living on our nightmares. It was developed together with tuition hikes to conceal double-crossed manipulations of such hikes to be left unfelt on our skins. But these development or REFORMS to such system, embarks distance to an education that is affordable. Thus barred us from the solution that is long-term and efficient leading to an education that is accessible.
After the tragic incident that happened to our fellow UP-student Kristel Tejada, March of this year, the students, faculty, staff and the administration unite at the board of regents meet to the so called, April 12 2013 policy that states that no qualified student shall be denied access to UP education due to financial incapacity. In the light of the said agreement, further revision and democratization of the rules of the student code must be implemented. The student code was rigorously reviewed and come-up with the three articles that said to be the foreground of the inaccessibility of UP education that contradicts with the statement of the April 12, 2013 policy. Articles 330, 430 and 431; policies that tackles the legitimacy and potency of stay of UP students to the University.
The aforementioned articles were already criticized and branded as “anti-poor-student policies” given the claim that these policies had no intention to help students to accessible education and thus doesn’t comply with the April 12, 2013 policy. Hence, the UP administration, under President Alfredo Pascual as a reaction, formed a review committee for the articles. However, after presenting the amendments to the student body after consulting students not just in Diliman, but also in other UP units, the revisions were viewed as stand-still version of the original articles.
This will be the case until these repressive articles come in front of our own situations facing the same tragedy that took the life of Kristel. We must unite to press on for pro-student policies that will abide to the principle of the university that in truth and action, serves the people’s interest.
We are not expecting that the odds will be on our favor. But as history has proven, students together with the wide alliance with the masses can prove that the university will stand-still on its mandate of serving the people hence providing education that is for the people and by the people. We invite all organizations, fraternities, sororities, alliances and individuals to once more draw the line of militancy to fight for our right to accessible education through roll-backing the tuition-fee to a flat rate and repel socialized scheme of tuition fee and fight for a more democratic access to education!
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