PAGBATI SA MGA BAGONG ISKOLAR NG BAYAN SA UPLB: Alamin ang mga isyu, Ipaglaban ang ating karapatan!
Posted: June 13, 2012 Filed under: Statements | Tags: Aquino, budget cut, freshman, iskolar ng bayan, UPLB, ynik ante 1 Comment
Binabati natin ang lahat ng mga bagong iskolar ng bayan sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Los Banos! Kaakibat ng karangalang makapasok sa isa sa pinakaprestihiyosong pamantasan sa bansa ay ang hamon at tungkulin na makinig, matuto at makisangkot kaugnay ng mga mahahalagang isyu sa loob at labas ng pamantasan – sapagkat ang pagkatuto ay hindi lamang sa loob na apat na sulok ng silid-aralan, sapagkat kalakip ng pagiging mga iskolar ng bayan ay ang dakilang tungkuling paglungkuran ang sambayanan!
Alamin natin ang mga latest issue sa loob at labas ng UPLB, ating suriin at alamin kung ano ang ating mga karapatan!
Issue #1: Budget cut sa edukasyon at serbisyo, pondo para sa dayuhan at iilan hindi sa mamamayan
Ipinasa ng rehimeng US-Aquino ang pambansang badyet na pumondo sa pagbabayad ng dayuhang-utang (P357 B, interes pa lang), sa militar (P107.9 B), korapsyon (P24.12 B pork barrel) at mga hungkag na proyekto tulad ng Conditional Cash Transfer (P30.9 B) at Public-Private Partnerships (P22.1 B), ngunit nagbigay ng kakarampot sa mga batayang serbisyong panlipunan tulad ng edukasyon ( P238.8 B sa basic education at P21.9 B sa SUCs), pabahay (P5.6 B) at serbisyong-pangkalusugan (P44.4 B).
Nakasaad sa Article 3, section 14 ng Saligang Batas: “The State shall protect the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels and make appropriate actions to make such education equally accesbile to all.” Ang edukasyon ay kaparatan, hindi pribilehiyo. Karapatan nating igiit sa gubyerno na ilaan ang pondo hindi para sa dayuhan at iilan kundi sa sambayanan.
Issue #2: kolonyal, komersyalisado at reaksyunaryong edukasyon
Bunga ng maka-dayuhan at kontra-mamamayang pambasang badyet ng Rehimeng US-Aquino, nagsimula ang bagong taon ng pasukan ng dambuhalang suliranin sa sektor ng edukasyon: 152,000 kakulangan sa silid-aralan, 13 milyon sa upuan, 135,000 sa palikuran at 96 milyon sa aklat.
Kaliwa’t kanan pa ang mga porma ng pagkomersyalisa sa edukasyon, kung saan pinakatampok ang pagtaas ng matrikula at iba pang bayarin ng 267 pamantasan sa humigit-kumulang 10%.
Bunga ng ganitong kalunos-lunos na kalagayan, 80% ng mga estudyanteng nasa edad 11-15 taon ang hindi na nakakatuloy sa pagpasok sa eskwela (drop-out rate). Nasa 80% din ng mga estudyante sa kolehiyo ang hindi na nagsisipagtapos. Sa ngayon, 8 milyong kabataan ang hindi man lang nagkaroon ng pagkakataong makatapak sa pamantasan.
Kakambal pa ng mga ito ang patuloy na pagsahol ng katangiang kolonyal ng edukasyon sa pamamagitan ng programang K to 12 ng DepEd. Ang disenyong 12 taong batayang edukasyon ay, sa katunayan, halaw sa Bologna Accords ng European Union at Washington Accords ng US. Sinasaad ng dalawang kasulatang ito na ang mga magtatrabaho sa ibayong dagat ay kailangang nakapagtapos ng 12 taong batayang edukasyon, ayon na rin ito sa dikta ng mga dayuhang multi-national corporations. Ibig saibihin, ang K to 12 ay binalangkas hindi upang tugunan ang disempleyo sa bansa o itaas ang kalidad ng edukasyon tulad ng pinalalabas ng gobyerno.
Isulong ang edukasyong siyentipiko, maka-masa at makabayan. Siyentipiko dahil nais nating isulong ang edukasyong naglalahad ng katotohanan at nagwawaksi sa mga pagtinging walang batayan. Makabayan dahil nais natin ng edukasyong nagsisilbi sa interes ng ating bayan at hindi ng dayuhan. Maka-masa dahil nais nating ang edukasyon ay nakakamit ng mahihirap at tumutugon sa kanilang pangangailangan at hindi sa iilan lamang.
Issue #3: Panggigipit sa mga lider-estudyante at pagyurak sa ating demokratikong karapatan
Tatlong buwan nang nakabinbin ang proklamasyon ng nanalong Tagapangulo ng Konseho ng Mag-aaral na si Ynik Ante ng Samahan ng Kabataan para sa Bayan matapos hindi kilalanin ang kanyang pagkapanalo dahil siya ay naka-promissory note. Isa itong malinaw na pagyurak sa integridad ng eleksyon at desisyon ng mga estudyante. Isa lamang ito sa napakaraming represibong hakbang at polisiyang iniwan ni Vivian Gonzales, ang dating direktor ng Office of Student Affairs at isa ring reserved colonel ng Philippine Army. Ilan sa mga kabang at polisiyang ito ay tambayan phaseout, suspension ng mga lider-estudyante, pagbabawal na maglunsad ng mga aktibidad pagkalipas ng oras ng klase, pagbabawal sa freshman na sumali sa organisasyon, panghihimasok sa operasyon n gating konseho at publikasyon, at iba pa.
Isang porma ng panggigipit sa mga estudyante ang hindi pagproklama kay Ante. Ang panggigipit na ito sa ating Konesho ng Mag-aaral ay hindi dapat pinahihintulutan. Ang ating konseho ay pinakamataas na gubyerno ng mga iskolar ng bayansa pamantasan, isang konsehong pinagbuwisan ng buhay-at-kamatayang pakikibaka ng libu-libong estudyanteng nauna sa atin. Ang Konseho an gating sandigan para sa karapatan sa edukasyon at kakampi para isulong an gating mga demokratikong adhikain.
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Nananatiling kolonyal, komersyalisado at reaksyunaryo ang edukasyong Pilipino dahil walang makabuluhang pagbabago ang aasahan mula sa Rehimeng US-Aquino. Nananatili kasi itong kontrolado ng dayuhan at dominado ng iilang panginoong maylupa at malalaking burgesya komprador na mayayaman at makakapangyarihan.
Ang ating panawagan: Pambansang Demokrasya! Ang pambasang demokrasya ang paninindigang isulong ang pambansang kalayaan at paglaya ng bawat mamamayang inaapi at pinagsasamantalahan. PAMBANSA dahil nais nitong igiit ang pambansang soberanya. DEMOKRATIKO dahil nais nitong ipaglaban ang dmeokratikong interes at karapatan ng mayorya ng sambayanang Pilipino – ng mga magsasaka, manggagawa, propesyunal, estudyante, maliliit na negosyante, minorya, kababaihan, at iba pang demokratikong sektor.
UPLB students start classes with protest vs pending USC chair proclamation, educ crisis
Posted: June 13, 2012 Filed under: Press releases | Tags: budget cut, class opening, iskolar ng bayan, sakbayan, UPLB, ynik ante 1 Comment
June 13, 2012
Class opening at the University of the Philippines Los Banos was welcomed with a rally today demanding for the immediate proclamation of University Student Council-UPLB (USC-UPLB) Chairperson-elect Ynik Ante and “challenging Iskolars ng Bayan to respond on ‘education crisis’ aggravated by continuous cutbacks on education budget.”
Some 300 UPLB students led by Kabataan Party-list Southern Tagalog began distributing their flyers on the annual breakfast treat to the university’s freshman students, followed by a program at the College of Arts and Sciences steps and a protest march from UPLB to Junction, Los Banos, Laguna.
Ante’s proclamation is still pending after the electoral board’s attempt to bar her from running in the campus election and from assuming her post due to late payment of tuition. The university’s chancellor, however, has already expressed his endorsement of Ante’s proclamation amid students’ continuing support on the latter.
“The prevention of Ante’s proclamation as the legal and legitimate USC-UPLB chair is a disrespect of both the integrity of the election process and the students’ decision,” said Ma. Cristina Madeja, chairperson of the party-alliance Samahan ng Kabataan para sa Bayan (SAKBAYAN), UP’s widest student alliance of 60 student organizations. Ante was SAKBAYAN’s standard bearer for the UPLB student council elections on February.
“The intervention on the students’ activity is part of the long history of campus repression in UPLB,” Madeja continued referring to the then Office of Student Affairs Director Vivian Gonzales, a reserved colonel, as the one behind the pending proclamation of Ante. “(Gonzales) is the culprit of various repressive policies, such as tambayan phaseout, suspension of organization’s officers, intervention on internal operations of student council and publications and non-proclamation of winners in student council elections,” she pointed out.
Ante stressed that ‘campus repression’ happens because there are UPLB constituents, like SAKBAYAN that are “conscious and brave enough to stand against policies that trample our right to a quality and accessible education.”
“We welcome the freshman students with the warmest salutation as the new iskolar ng bayan. Our mass action today aims to educate and inform them of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to education, democratic right to freely express their sentiments, freely assemble and freely organize,” Ante said.
The same students also protest various schemes of tuition hike, such as UP’s Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program that requires students to pay P1,500 per unit, amounting to a 50 percent tuition hike. They slam Mr. Benigno Aquino III’s budget cut on education and other social services that left UP with almost P13-billion budget deficit.
“Amidst Aquino government’s futility to prioritize education in the national budget allocation, we pledge a more serious campaign to lobby in congress and protest for higher state subsidy on education and other basic social services,” Ante said.
Madeja said that the protest today is the commencement of a series of activities that will culminate in their participation in the “people’s state of the nation address (SONA)” along with Aquino’s on July 23. #
UPLB students start classes with protest vs pending USC chair proclamation, educ crisis
Posted: June 13, 2012 Filed under: Press releases | Tags: budget cut, education, politics, sakbayan, southern tagalog, student council elections, university of the philippines los banos, ynik ante Leave a commentJune 13, 2012
Class opening at the University of the Philippines Los Banos was welcomed with a rally today demanding for the immediate proclamation of University Student Council-UPLB (USC-UPLB) Chairperson-elect Ynik Ante and “challenging Iskolars ng Bayan to respond on ‘education crisis’ aggravated by continuous cutbacks on education budget.”
Some 300 UPLB students led by Kabataan Party-list Southern Tagalog began distributing their flyers on the annual breakfast treat to the university’s freshman students, followed by a program at the College of Arts and Sciences steps and a protest march from UPLB to Junction, Los Banos, Laguna.
Ante’s proclamation is still pending after the electoral board’s attempt to bar her from running in the campus election and from assuming her post due to late payment of tuition. The university’s chancellor, however, has already expressed his endorsement of Ante’s proclamation amid students’ continuing support on the latter.
“The prevention of Ante’s proclamation as the legal and legitimate USC-UPLB chair is a disrespect of both the integrity of the election process and the students’ decision,” said Ma. Cristina Madeja, chairperson of the party-alliance Samahan ng Kabataan para sa Bayan (SAKBAYAN), UP’s widest student alliance of 60 student organizations. Ante was SAKBAYAN’s standard bearer for the UPLB student council elections on February.
“The intervention on the students’ activity is part of the long history of campus repression in UPLB,” Madeja continued referring to the then Office of Student Affairs Director Vivian Gonzales, a reserved colonel, as the one behind the pending proclamation of Ante. “(Gonzales) is the culprit of various repressive policies, such as tambayan phaseout, suspension of organization’s officers, intervention on internal operations of student council and publications and non-proclamation of winners in student council elections,” she pointed out.
Ante stressed that ‘campus repression’ happens because there are UPLB constituents, like SAKBAYAN that are “conscious and brave enough to stand against policies that trample our right to a quality and accessible education.”
“We welcome the freshman students with the warmest salutation as the new iskolar ng bayan. Our mass action today aims to educate and inform them of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to education, democratic right to freely express their sentiments, freely assemble and freely organize,” Ante said.
The same students also protest various schemes of tuition hike, such as UP’s Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program that requires students to pay P1,500 per unit, amounting to a 50 percent tuition hike. They slam Mr. Benigno Aquino III’s budget cut on education and other social services that left UP with almost P13-billion budget deficit.
“Amidst Aquino government’s futility to prioritize education in the national budget allocation, we pledge a more serious campaign to lobby in congress and protest for higher state subsidy on education and other basic social services,” Ante said.
Madeja said that the protest today is the commencement of a series of activities that will culminate in their participation in the “people’s state of the nation address (SONA)” along with Aquino’s on July 23. #
Video-interview of Quezon activist points to military as his abductors
Posted: June 12, 2012 Filed under: Press releases | Tags: bondoc peninsula, militarization, oplan bayanihan, quezon Leave a commentJune 12, 2012 | Press release from Karapatan Southern Tagalog Facebook.
Watch the video here.
Rights group KARAPATAN-Southern Tagalog released today a video interview of Franklin Barrera Jr., youth activist from Quezon province who was recently reported to have been abducted and tortured by military elements. Barrera categorically stated in the video interview that he believes his abductors were members of the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army stationed in Lopez, Quezon.
Last July 7, 2012, Barrera was reported (http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/nation/28439-military-hit-over-kidnap-torture-of-anti-mining-activist-in-quezon) to have been abducted by unidentified armed men in Lopez town. According to a statement he made to KARAPATAN, he was tortured and interrogated but managed to escape the same day. At about 1:00 AM the next day, members of KARAPATAN-Quezon fetched Barrera in a hospital in Atimonan town and took him to the KABATAAN-Partylist office in Lucena City.
On June 10, Barrera left the office without notice and was later reported to be in the hands of the military again. The video interview was shot last June 8, two days before he left the KABATAAN-Partylist office.
KARAPATAN-ST secretary general Glendhyl Malabanan said the video clearly refutes AFP’s statement yesterday accusing their group of propagating a “tall tale” to “demonize the military.”
Yesterday, Colonel Eduardo Año, commander of the Army’s 201st Brigade operating in Quezon, issued a statement (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/210369/quezon-activist-escapes-points-to-npa-as-abductors-–-army-exec) claiming that members of the New People’s Army (NPA), not the military, were behind the abduction. He said Barrera feared for his life and sought help from the military. He also claimed that Barrera himself is a member of the NPA.
“We stand by our earlier statements that Barrera is an activist and not a member of the NPA. Just like what Barrera said in his interview, we believe that the military are the only ones who have a clear motive in perpetuating such an atrocity. As an activist and a critique of government and military policies, Barrera is a prime target for human rights abuse,” Malabanan said.
In the video, Barrera said he is the current coordinator of KABATAAN-Partylist in the fourth district of Quezon. He said he has stopped from schooling in order to “serve society.”
Malabanan stated though that should Barrera stick with the Col. Año’s story, they only see this as a possible result of the military’s coercion and intimidation tactics. She said the military uses such dirty psy-op tactics like they did in the case of the Morong 43.
“We can also see in the video how calm and composed Barrera is, which we can look at as a sign that he does not feel any fear for his life during that time, and is most likely telling the truth. Meanwhile, Col. Año on the other hand has no credibility when it comes to human rights issues. He is a suspect in the abduction of activist Jonas Burgos in 2007. He has no moral authority to lay claims that the military has no hand in Barrera’s abduction,” Malabanan added.
On K to 12 first week: Southern Tagalog youth groups launch ‘K-12 Watch’ in Los Baños
Posted: June 11, 2012 Filed under: Press releases | Tags: colonial education, education, k+12, no to k to 123, no to k12 1 CommentJune 11, 2012
Led by Kabataan Party-list, youth groups launch “K-12 Watch” in Southern Tagalog schools today as they claim that “(K to 12) has wreak havoc in elementary and high schools after a week of implementation.”
The groups affiliated with Kabataan Party-list, League of Filipino Students-UPLB, Anakbayan-Southern Tagalog and Gabriela Youth-UPLB aims to gather starting today feedbacks through a “K-12 Watch Roving Bulletin Board” at Lopez Elementary School in Los Banos, Laguna where parents, pupils, teachers and other concerned post their feedback on the first week of implementation of the K-12 policy.
They also invited high school students, parents and teachers in their “iPose against K-12” photo booth at Los Baños National High School main campus where they pose for a photo with the “No to K-12” thought bubble placards. The group said they will upload the photos on the No to K-12 Alliance Facebook page.
Meanwhile, they launched in Southern Tagalog a more serious signature campaign for the “1.2 million signatures against K-12” campaign. Allen Lemence, spokesperson of LFS-UPLB, said that they will submit the said signature campaign to the House of Representatives through its youth solon Raymond Palatino of Kabataan Partylist.
“We are receiving reports that K to 12 caused heavy burdens to the pupils and students and their parents as well as to the teachers and school administrators. Now, we would like to formalize that into a campaign to finally oppose and call for the junking of the K to 12 program,” Lemence said.
The groups received information that K to 12 has caused confusion among the teachers as to what to teach on the new curriculum. Meanwhile, they also received feedback from parents that they were convinced that the K to 12 program will only give them heavy expenses.
He also stressed that their activities today are just the start of a series of activities that would tackle the worsening state of education and the youth in the region and how they reflect the national situation under the administration of Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
The group aims to encourage the participation of students, parents, educators, and other concerned parties in open discussions on the status of the first week of implementation of the K-12 curriculum in both elementary and secondary schools in Southern Tagalog to reaffirm the group’s stand against the policy.
“We stressed that this K to 12 program is a pro-imperialist and anti-people policy. The questions to be asked should not only ‘are we ready?’ or ‘how can we make K to 12 work?’ But rather we should question and expose the reason behind its implementation—that this program is yet another manifestation of Aquino’s puppetry to the foreign multi-national corporations,” Lemence pointed out as he also stressed that the K to 12 program is not an education policy per se but a labor export policy.
7:00 AM – 11:30 AM
K-12 Watch Roving Bulletin Board (Lopez Elementary School, Lopez Ave., Los Baños, Laguna)
11:30 AM – 2:30 PM
iPose against K-12 Photo Booth
Los Baños National High School, Batong Malake, Los Baños, Laguna
RELATED ACTIVITIES:
June 12 Independence Day mobilization
June 13 UP Los Baños class opening mobilization
June 19 Kabataan Partylist anniversary voters’ registration and education campaign | Rizal Day celebration
July 4 Filipino-American Friendship Day mobilization
July 7 State of the Youth Address – Laguna
July 14 State of the Youth Address – Quezon
July 15 State of the Youth Address – Cavite
July 18 State of the Youth Address – Romblon
July 21 State of the Youth Address – Batangas
Anakbayan-University of the Philippines Los Banos 