Statement: People's Clamor?

The Freeman Publication Date: [May 6, 2006]

While the current move to revise the 1987 constitution is led by an NGO named Sigaw ng Bayan, President Arroyo’s claim of a people’s clamor for cha-cha is still very questionable. Indeed, its most vocal supporters come from the ranks of GMA’s allies.

The use of government machinery to entice people to sign up with the “people’s initiative,” regardless of whether they understand its objectives seem to confirm our suspicions that it really is a Malacañang ploy. If so, then it would be more fitting to call the move a “Politician’s initiative” or a “Palace initiatve.”

To this end, government funds have been used for the undertaking of the people’s initiative. Likewise, millions of pesos are expected to be spent in an expensive plebiscite.

Instead of wasting the people’s money on self-serving schemes, the Arroyo government should allocate more budget for education and the social services. State Universities and Colleges, like UP, have long been deprived of badly needed state subsidy for the improvement of services and facilities.

GMA and her Sigaw ng Bayan have become so confident that nothing can stop their cha-cha train. It is sad to note that they are doing so at our expense.

By Karlo Mikhail I. Mongaya
Chairperson, Student Council
UP Cebu College

Speak out: Stand up for civil liberties

Sun.Star Daily Publication Date: [April 19, 2006]

Last March 19, Cris Hugo, national council member of the League of Filipino Students, was shot dead in Legazpi City.

The police illegally abducted two leaders of the student council of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines last April 4 while speaking in a community forum.

The UP Cebu College Student Council condemns such unjust acts and all moves that aim to clamp down protests against President Arroyo’s low education budget, the sorry condition of state universities and colleges, excessive increase in tuition and other fees, and other anti-student policies.

We likewise express extreme disapproval over proposals that seek to make the Reserved Officer Training Corps mandatory again.

The revival of the obsolete, corrupt, and essentially fascist program will only exaggerate the already repressive nature of the Philippine educational system.

Despite attempts to frighten us, we will never be cowed. The authoritarian stance of the present government is not a sign of strength.

Efforts to muzzle the media, clamp down on dissent and limit civil liberties are actions of a dying regime desperate to cling to power and continue to implement policies such as the deregulation of oil, the jacking up of the value-added tax, etc.

The UP Cebu College Student Council will continue to lead the Iskolar ng Bayan in standing up for civil liberties.

We will continue to work for a mass-oriented education that will truly cater to the needs of nation building and call for meaningful social change despite the continuous deception and tyranny of a bogus and anti-people government. ■

Memo # 05: Contact Numbers

To: All Councilors, UPVCC-SC
From: The Chairperson
Re: Contact Information

Warm Greetings!

The contact information of the councilors and secretariat members for the newly constituted college student council is as follows:

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya
Chairperson
09266731480
karlo_mikhail@yahoo.com.ph

Gian Enefctana
Vice-chairperson
09212236963
gian_xxx@yahoo.com

Charto Tan
UPV-USC rep.
09208937420
chariisme@hotmail.com

Gayle Opsma
UPV-USC rep.
09192336037
gayleopsima@yahoo.com

Jenno Gacasan
Fine Arts rep.
09207950918
taga_up_ko@yahoo.com

Hope Tilog
Fine Arts rep.
09279497249
hope_upls@yahoo.com

Ralph Sanchez
2nd Year rep.
09205918452
ralph2345ph@yahoo.com

Heno Rey Chin
2nd Year rep.
09176951835
heno_7@yahoo.com

Stacey Kaye Cardoso
3rd Year rep.
09206531658
czimon@yahoo.com

Phoebeth Peras
3rd Year rep.
09196398477
betch_17@yahoo.com

Genry Gabyan
4th Year rep.
09194528801
genryØØ@yahoo.com

Marinel Velmonte
4th Year rep.
09213773303
velmonte_15@yahoo.com

Maria Girly Patigdas
Secretary General
09215749455

John Patrick Cabrera
Deputy Sec. for Finance
09223852624
ku_shuriken@yahoo.com

Cindy Baguio
Deputy Sec. for Logistics
09268381707

Francis Infiesto
Deputy Sec. for Records
09102116381

Doyle Belluga
Deputy Sec. for Admin.
09214001786

I hope this will be of help for the efficient functioning and coordination of all SC members and expedient information dissemination.

Thank you.

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya
Chairperson

Memo # 04: The Tasks of the Student Council

To: All Councilors, UPVCC-SC
From: The Chairperson
Re: General Assembly

The Tasks of the Student Council for the Vacation Break

In approaching the salient question of our essential tasks for this coming summer vacation, it is important that we understand the seriousness of our vocation for the advancement of democratic rights in the UP community. Indeed, we should be responsive to the objective needs and interests of our constituents. To do so require ample time to consciously plan and rapidly take steps to concretely answer and surmount any challenge that we will inevitably face throughout the year.

The vacation provides us the occasion to prepare for the coming academic year. Let us take advantage of the relatively greater time given by the summer break to lay down the general direction of our term and draw up corresponding plans that are both tangible and specific.

From our last General Assembly for the academic year 05-06 we have, through consensus, designated committee assignments, established summer schedules, updated ourselves on the alarming wave of human rights violations draping the country today, and adopted a resolution defining our stand against “the proposals to make the Reserved Officer Training Corps or ROTC mandatory among all students.”

Let me present our tentative schedules for the summer and committee assignments as discussed during our most recent meeting last March 27, 2006:

April 22
Earth Day Eco-Forum
(Co-organized with the Maharlika Artists Federation)
UPV Cebu College -AVR

April 23
Globalization & the Workers Situation Forum
(Hosted by SC for People's Globalization Awareness Initiative Network)
UPV Cebu College - Conference Hall

May 1
Participation in International Labor Day Commemoration

May 6
SC Office Cleaning

May 13
Community Immersion

May 23 to 25
KASAMA sa UP
National Council Meeting
UP Diliman

May 28
Leadership Training Seminar

Here are the committees and their respective committee heads:

Executive Committee
Karlo Mikhail Mongaya

Secretariat
Maria Girly Patigdas

Student’s Rights and Welfare Committee
Ralph Sanchez

Student Organizations, Fraternities, and Sororities Committee
Gian Marco Enfectana

Pulse Committee
Genry Gabayan

Ways and Means Committee
Marinel Velmonte

Committee on Culture and Arts
Jenno Gacasan

Environment Desk
Gayle Opsima

Community Rights and Welfare Committee
Stacey Kaye Cardoso

Gender Desk
Heno Rey Chin

Sports Desk
Charito Tan

Education and Research Committee
Phoebeth Peras

Information Desk
Hope Tilog

More waves of anti-student impositions are expected to hit the university in the near future as the deepening crisis afflicting our backward, agricultural, and foreign dominated society aggravates the commercialized and repressive character of Philippine education.

We must unite firmly to carry out our tasks for the purpose of carrying forward the student’s battle for democratic reforms within the UP community and link these struggles to the people’s movement for a just, democratic, and independent Philippine society.

Let us as much as possible devote our- selves to serving the people and exert the utmost effort to lead the students in such an endeavor.

Karlo Mikhail Mongaya
Chairperson