RSA panel still lacks student reps after USC appeal denied
by Lian Gabrielle Inlong
The Return Service Agreement (RSA) Committee is still short of a student representative after the University Student Council’s (USC) request to fill two open seats was rejected, leaving the committee with only one representative as the academic year begins.
The RSA Committee oversees the RSA, which mandates students from white colleges to serve two years within five years after graduation.
According to the RSA handbook, the RSA arbitration body should be formed by the chancellor consisting of the different college secretaries, associate dean for faculty and students or student relations officer, alumni relations officer, and a lone student representative. The UP Manila legal counsel also sits on the committee.
USC Chairperson Alec Xavier Miranda, the sole student representative in the committee, explained that under USC’s Rules of Internal Governance, the Students’ Rights, Welfare, and Basic Services (STRAWBS) committee head should lead the Students’ Assembly on the Return Service Agreement (SARSA). However, since Orly Magbanua, STRAWBS committee head, is from UPM School of Health Sciences — Koronadal (SHS), the councils decided that Miranda, as USC chair, would oversee SARSA and serve as the RSA student rep.
A student representative is crucial for amplifying student concerns, and registering their calls to the body that decides the fate of RSA-pledged students. With this, the 44th USC pushed for two seats in the committee and was granted one, making former USC Chairperson John Venedict Cabrera, the first student representative in the university arbitration committee. Student representatives could only hold seats at the college level in 2018.
The 45th USC pushed to expand student representation, aiming to represent not only the white colleges but also the SHS units as their term started.
Miranda mentioned that their appeal may be declined with the body’s firm belief that having one representative is “enough.” However, he emphasized that one student representative will not suffice in a faculty-dominated committee, especially when amendments are being deliberated.
“Definitely, hindi [enough] dahil dominated siya by faculty who are in favor of having the Return Service Agreement, so mag-isa lang ako. [I don’t] agree na iisa lang ang representative, dapat equally represented lahat ng mga degree granting units na may RSA. Ang pinupush last year ay magkaroon ng two representative pero isa lang ang grinant,” Miranda said.
Miranda criticized the imbalance of representation and noted that a proxy is not allowed if the student representative cannot attend meetings, adding that this highlights how students’ concerns are undervalued.
He further questioned why RSA coordinators of each college get to sit both at the college and university level of the RSA panel, yet student representatives, usually the chairpersons of the college student councils, are only allowed at the college level.
UP Manila and the UPM SHS students continue to call for the stop of the imposition of penalties, recalibration of the UPM-LGU partnership, and the review of the RSA, including limitations on shifting programs or pursuing graduate studies.
Editor’s note: A version of this article was updated to correct who gets to sit both at the college and university level of the RSA panel following a clarification from our interviewee. We apologize for the oversight.
