i just remembered something, i remember the UPS being so keen on having the Tug-ani (when kara was still eic) investigated for being unable to release an issue on a monthly basis. if i recall it right, they also called for an audit for Tug-ani.
they quoted the constitution and bylaws of the Tug-ani for such purposes.
and the trapos that they are, they aren't asking any questions now that the Tug-ani is being staffed by UPS people.
predictably too, they can't publish monthly as well. hahaha. lisod baya gyud. pero at least pretty (and awarded) ang Tug-ani ato nga time. (for UP MassComm students, lingaw tingali kung ang subject sa inyoha thesis kay comparative analysis sa Tug-ani under different EICs.)
and now the UPS is 'inquiring' (they seem to be unable to distinguish between inquiry and accusation) whether or not the LFS (an NKE allied org) will be filing a case against Arrah (the Tug-ani's current eic and affiliated with the UPS).
this 'inquiry' reeks of malice. or at the very least, ignorance over UP Cebu's political history (involving the SC, the Tug-ani and the different political parties: NKE, UPS, MASP, SY, Lihok).
if memory serves me right, when the Tug-ani was damned (teachers filed a complaint with the Student Disciplinary Tribunal when they took offense from an editorial), a UPS member who sat in the SDT voted against the Tug-ani.
when the Tug-ani was condemned (the Student Council, led by the UPS filed a resolution condemning the Tug-ani for publishing an article featuring then Anak ng Bayan, now KABATAAN PARTYLIST), it was of course at the rabid initiative of the UPS.
on both occassions, the NKE and its allied orgs (in consonance with its pro-people, pro-student principles), was vocal in defending the Tug-ani. why then do you impute your folly on the NKE and the LFS?
a cursory glance above would show that at the UPS is anti-Tug-ani, or at the very least, considers the Tug-ani as a mere tool.
now let us summarize matters regarding ToFI (tuition and other fees increases).
the NKE has been consistent: since its founding in 1987, the NKE (guided by its pro-people, pro-student policies) has always led rallies against ToFI. but before all the rallying of course (a very visible and audible form of protest), the NKE has already laid the groundwork through education discussions, signature campaigns, etc. we study issues, and then we expose and oppose such.
the UPS on the other hand, has been inconsistent. to recent memory, they have never led any mobilization (be it a rally, fora, symposia, signature campaign, etc) against ToFI and other anti-student policies. more to the point, different leading UPS personalities at different points in time have said that the mobilizations initiated by the NKE are pointless (rallying is a waste of time and will have no positive results), and are mere products of paranoia (leading UPS personalities have claimed that the NKE is paranoid since there is no threat of ToFI). at its worst, the UPS has openly said that they know nothing about such issues.
let us then touch on the significance of mass/student mobilizations. rallying (as a culmination of weeks of studying the issues, disseminating information and forging alliances) has brought palpable gains.
who can refute the significance of rallying in ousting Marcos and Erap (incidentaly, both presidents weren't subtle about being anti-student, anti-people), in calling for wage increase for the workers (the 125 wage hike wouldn't have been given a second thought in congress if not for the attention the rallying workers got in mainstream media), in demanding genuine agrarian reform for the farmers (in pushing for the CARP, the farmers were martyred in the mendiola massacre, and in subsequently calling for the scrapping of the inutile CARP, farmers were martyred in the hacienda luisita massacre)?
in rallying for students' issues, who can refute the historical fact that student councils and student publications were reopened (they were shut down during the marcos dictatorship) only after much rallying?
in the fight against ToFI, who can refute the fact that 42 colleges in the NCR have already given tuition refunds because of our lobbying efforts, rallies included? (see
http://tuitionrefund.blogspot.com/2006/09/42-ncr-colleges-and-universities-to.html )
i bet the UPS knew nothing about that. which isn't at all surprising since the UPS seems to be against alliances between student organizations.
the UPS harps on concentrating its efforts in our backyard, effectively insinuating that the NKE is too involved with national and multi-sectoral issues.
not only do they disregard issues which are national and multi-sectoral in scope, the UPS is against the formation of alliances against issues which are anti-student (sectoral, local), anti-people (multi-sectoral, national).
it is a matter of historical fact the the NKE has been working for broad alliances in our many and interrelated struggles. it is also a matter of historical fact that the UPS has declined to participate in such alliances. at its worst, the UPS has initiated moves to withdraw from standing alliances.
case in point is the KASAMA sa UP (a broad alliance of student councils in the UP System). the KASAMA was instrumental in fighting for student representation in the UP Board of Regents (the BOR is the highest policy making body in UP). without efforts from the KASAMA alliance, i doubt that the Office of the Student Regent would exist as it does now.
however, in 2003, the UPS filed a resolution which effectively withdrew the UP Cebu Student Council's membership from the KASAMA. their reason? they do not know the KASAMA that well (wtf? the UP Cebu SC was then a member of 15 years). the UPS has been involved with UP Cebu politics since 1992 (the year that they were founded, though some of them erroneously claimed that the UPS was founded in the 80s and in 1990, refer to Tug-ani election issues for their inconsistencies regarding their own history) and yet they claim not to know the KASAMA which existed before them.
in that same year, the UPS led SC failed (through inaction and opposition) to join the UMAKKSYON alliance (Ugnayan ng mga Mag-aaral Laban sa Komersyalisasyon at Korporatisasyon), which was created to be a broad alliance against ToFI which was then in the form of the Senate Bill 2587. in fact, leading UPS personalities were vocal in being for the SB2587 (the proposed law enabling the BOR to increase tuition as they see fit).
seeing the inaction and opposition of the UPS led SC of 2003, the UNISO (Unified Student Organizations, a broad alliance of recognized and unrecognized student organizations in UP Cebu), led by the UNISO Chairpeson, an NKE stalwart took initiative and thus insured that the UP Cebu student orgs participated in the UMAKKSYON.
on a related matter, the UNISO Chairperson was not yet a voting member of the SC. when the next years' SC (led by the NKE) recognized the noble efforts of the UNISO in alliance building and filed a resolution to give the UNISO Chair a vote in the SC, the UPS council reps abstained from voting for the resolution. effectively, they were against giving the student organizations in UP Cebu a voice in the Student Council. how anti-student is that?
