TL;DR: What happened at the 52nd GASC
By The News Team
Student councils from all constituent units (CUs) of the University of the Philippines (UP) System gathered for the 52nd General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) held last February 4–5, 2022 via Zoom. As the student body’s campaigns will be reaching a critical stage, in line with the upcoming national elections, the assembly focused on building unities and amplifying calls that carry the students’ and Filipino masses’ demands.
The Office of the Student Regent (OSR), led by SR Renee Co, encouraged the body to “Struggle to Unite, Unite to Struggle!” citing three points for the student to continue fighting for: the possibility of a Marcos-Duterte government, defending academic freedom, and the pushing for the limited face-to-face classes.
Unit Reports
All seven University Student Councils (USC) from UP Baguio (UPB), UP Cebu (UPC), UP Diliman (UPD), UPLos Baños (UPLB), UP Manila (UPM), UP Mindanao (UPMin), and UP Visayas (UPV) presented their unit’s woes and accomplishment during the past semester. Common among all their reports were the call to heed the students’ calls, particularly the implementation of genuine academic easing and safe reopening of schools, and the uphill fight against the Marcos-Duterte alliances.
The UPD USC cited that the lack of sufficient time to prepare, complying with missing requirements from the previous semester, and family emergencies that transpired during the first semester are sufficient reasons for the administration to heed the students’ calls to move the opening of the semester. However, to their dismay, the administration has cited matters such as logistics and graduating students’ concerns in deciding otherwise. This is despite a majority of students, faculty members, staff, and representatives calling for the postponement of the original date of opening the semester.
It is no secret that a large portion of the student population was devastated by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette late last year, which is precisely why the call for genuine academic easing is continuously being amplified. Several USCs cited that the lack of access to electricity, internet connection, and functional devices, due to the recent onslaught of the typhoon Odette, have been affecting the students’ preparedness for the upcoming second semester.
Members from UPC, UPMin, and UPV were the most affected by the disaster and it showed in their respective USC’s reports. Included in their small victories were that all three CUs were able to successfully launch donation drives for affected stakeholders of their units, tapping alumni groups to extend help to those affected.
In addition, even prior to the onslaught of Typhoon Odette, the UPC USC made a hotline for students to provide a platform for their constituents who would need rescue during the typhoon. To alleviate the problems, the council also lobbied for the university to be used as an electronic charging station for its constituents, which has been allowed by the university but only for a limited area.
On the other hand, the UPMin USC explained that there is another issue that pesters students in line with second semester and that is the issues regarding their shift to Student Academic Information System (SAIS) from Computerized Registration System (CRS).
Adding to the discussions of students’ rights, the UPLB USC shared that they have established new local committees in upholding students’ rights and ensuring accommodation for its stakeholders, one of which is the UC Committee on National Issues and its Multisectoral Advisory which comes from the Safe-Haven Resolution. Furthermore, they reported that they successfully passed and implemented a more lenient student organization recognition guidelines. Moreover, they were also able to lift the freshmen recruitment ban, making them the first constituent university to do so.
Finally, the UPB USC explained that after the Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF-ELCAC) red-tagging forum and incidents of library purging, they tried to connect with CHED to mitigate the actions done by the RTF-ELCAC that essentially shrink the democratic spaces of students. As the only constituent university in the north, the UPB USC also launched several efforts to prevent another Marcos to rise into power.
Apart from the seven USCs, the newly established UPM School of Health Sciences (SHS) in Tarlac AD HOC Committee (AHC) and UP Open University (UPOU) University Provisional Committee (ProvComm), who were recognized observers during the assembly, were also given a chance to present updates from their own units.
The UPM SHS Tarlac AHC publicized that the student council and the publication must be inaugurated in time for the foundation anniversary of the campus on February 26 after the ratification of the constitutions in which they noted a 100% student participation. Meanwhile, the UPOU ProvComm is now working closely with other stakeholders for their constitutions to be drafted.
UPM Unit Report
The UPM USC focused their report on updates regarding one of the most pressing issues that the CU faces, the implementation of the Return Service Agreement (RSA) for students in the white colleges. The administration claims that RSA is a response to the “exodus of graduates and brain drain.”
The RSA requires students to serve in the Philippines within 5 years after graduation for a period specified by the involved college — the period of which should not be less than 2 years. Furthermore, as stipulated in the RSA Handbook, if after five years, the graduate has not fully served the RSA, the individual needs to pay double the cost of his/her education at the prevailing rate from the time of entry, plus interest.
Citing that the RSA is coercive, repressive, and only intensifies the commercialization of education, the UPM USC highlights the need for a democratic and student-based review of the RSA and the junking of payback.
The UPM USC further pushed for the devolution of RSA so that local colleges have the ability to have a voice in its payback and standard unit requirement, among others
Finally, the UPM USC, alongside the League of College Student Councils (LCSC), pushes for the united student demands which include genuine academic ease now, #MoveTheSemUP, No Fail Policy, Expand Student Support, Open the Schools Now, and End the Duterte administration.
Adopted Resolutions
Throughout the two-day session, a total of 14 resolutions, ranging from local academic issues to national environmental problems, were adopted by the body.
A total of four resolutions were adopted in relation to the call to uphold the university’s academic freedom and protect the democratic spaces of students, namely Resolution №2022–01, Resolution №2022–04, Resolution №2022–10, and Resolution №2022–12.
All student councils express their full support to institutionalize the UP-Department of National Defense (DND) Accord, stating that this should be non-negotiable. This is after the OSR reported that up until today, the HB10171 is still being stalled in the lower house committee.
They encouraged their fellow student-leaders to fight for genuine academic freedom and resist state-sponsored attacks, furthering that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) poses a great threat whether online or on-ground, thus they ought to call for the abolishment of the said agency.
In relation to Resolution №2022–10, the councils denounced the purging of “subversive” materials in university libraries, which they called counterproductive, stating that it is one of the attempts of the Duterte administration against academic freedom.
They also said that red-tagging puts Filipino lives in danger, urging the system’s constituents to continue holding Duterte and his accomplices accountable for the lives lost under this administration.
Meanwhile, another four resolutions were adopted in relation to climate justice, ranging from cases of development aggression to calls for strengthened relief efforts. These resolutions are Resolution №2022–02, Resolution №2022–08, Resolution №2022–09, and Resolution №2022–13. All of which shed light on the evident neoliberal policies implemented by the state and urged the Duterte administration to recalibrate its priorities.
The body agreed that these reclamation projects, which are rampant in Southern Tagalog, resulted in the displacement and harassment of families in coastal areas, furthering that these only address the interests of big corporations and not the welfare of the local communities. They further encouraged the UP administration, particularly the UPV administration as the flagship campus for Fishery Science, to pledge their support for Resolution 2022–02.
They also condemned the misallocation of funds for the “Build, Build, Build” program at a time when the country is facing the wrath of the pandemic. They explained that the aforementioned program has failed to live up to its promise to revive our economy and believe that this is not key to solve the current crisis brought by the pandemic.
In relation to Resolution 2022–09, the councils also condemned the misprioritization of the current administration, aggravated by their lack of urgency, in responding to the typhoons that struck the country. They said that the impacts of typhoons are getting worse every year even though this is something that can be prevented by a well-funded disaster risk reduction management plan., urging the government to double their efforts.
“Hindi muli makakabangon ang ating bayan kung palaging resiliency ang binabato. Kailangan panagutin ang rehimen kung hinahayaan nitong magdusa ang mga kababayan sa kalamidad,” argued UPD USC.
In relation to making the education system more accessible and inclusive, four more resolutions were passed namely, Resolution №2022–03, Resolution №2022–05, Resolution №2022–06, and Resolution №2022–11. The most prominent problem is the fact that schools in the country have remained close for approximately two years. Furthermore, the body agreed that the poor pandemic response of the government has led to the rail-roaded map to this online set-up.
“Nakita natin ang kapalpakan ng Administrasyong Duterte sa pagsasagawa ng pagbibigay daloy sa remote learning set-up. Maraming mag-aaral ang nag-drop out ngayong pandemic. Maraming kaguruan ang napilitang hindi na magturo dahil sa kawalan ng suporta. Sawang-sawa na tayo sa tuloy-tuloy na adjustments, at pagroromantisa ng resiliency. Patuloy na isinusulong ang LBE nang sa gayon ay mawakasan na rin ang hirap ng mga estudyante. Patuloy tayong mangampanya sa maayos na budgeting sa edukasyon. Panagutan ang Rehimeng Duterte, at ahensya na s’yang nagpabaya sa mga mag-aaral ngayong pandemya,” UPD College of Education Student Council (CESC) explained.
In terms of inclusivity, Resolution 2022–03 believes that system-wide adoption of the Filipino Sign Language as a general education subject will ensure that no students will be left behind and it will be able to reach and serve more people, particularly the Persons with Disability (PWD) community.
Meanwhile, Resolutions 2022–05 and 2022–06, tackle the need to supplement avenues for transgender and gender-non-conforming individuals and push through with campaigns that strive for gender inclusivity.
Finally, two more resolutions were passed to campaign for nationwide progress through the implementation of Kabataan Partylist’s 9-point Youth and People’s Agenda under Resolution №2022–07 and a call for the government to implement Public Health Solutions under Resolution №2022–14.
The OSR, which has tirelessly clamored against the proposed budget cut and petitioned to capacitate the UP System to hold limited f2f classes, prioritize the welfare of UP constituents, and the institutionalization of UP-DND Accord, announced that the next regular GASC will be held sometime after the current academic year’s second semester and during that assembly, the body shall be electing the next Student Regent.
List of the adopted resolutions:
