Monday, December 13, 2010
What is your stand regarding the leadership crisis in the University Student Council?
Nonetheless, being a student leader also means having to set a higher bar for oneself, in order to cope up with the demands of being a STUDENT, and being a LEADER. None has to be sacrificed, if one is to be up to the task of being a student leader. Hence, if a student leader manages to sacrifice his academics, to the point of academic delinquency, he does a disservice, to the students that he serves, and the nation that provides for his education.
Let us be clear that this issue regarding the leadership crisis in the University Student Council is NOT PERSONAL. It is an issue of principles, of holding oneself accountable. If the University Student Council is still bent on upholding the USC Chairperson's tenure, in spite of clear rules mandating that he relinquish his post, they are squandering their integrity and moral ascendancy. True enough, some colleges have already expressed their position for the USC Chairperson to resign, else they will not recognize the Council as a truly representative body.
We reiterate our call for our USC Chairperson to uphold honor and excellence. We call on him to muster his courage, do the right thing, and resign from his post. To do nothing less is not a shame, but a badge of integrity.
Monday, December 6, 2010
What has ALYANSA done regarding the UP budget cuts?
ALYANSA has always stood for accessible, quality and relevant education. As such, with the current state of our tertiary education sector, budget cuts to UP and other State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) do serious harm to the effort of providing such education. We recognize that opposing budget cuts, in solidarity with other groups and sectors of the UP community, as well as the whole tertiary education sector, is the way to ensure accessible, quality and relevant education.
As a formation, ALYANSA has encouraged its members to attend the student strike last month, as a way of recognizing that this issue transcends political affiliations and party lines. More importantly, as a concrete way of addressing this issue, ALYANSA, led by its Vice-Chairperson for Student Rights and Welfare (VC STRAW) Will Del Rosario, has trooped to the House of Representatives and the Senate to lobby and present its position against the budget cuts. With its actions, ALYANSA demonstrated its principle of progressive multi-perspective activism, one that is willing to work beyond political affiliations and party lines, and recognize other forms of participating in issues.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
What can you say about this year's University Student Council election results?
Monday, February 22, 2010
What do you think about endorsements given by individuals and groups to parties during elections?
Therefore, as part of this annual democratic exercise, ALYANSA welcomes like-minded individuals and groups who support the formation. Nonetheless, consistent with its pillars, as well as its progressive, multi-perspective character, ALYANSA conditionally recognizes endorsements as long as it does not compromise the integrity of the formation. We welcome endorsements from individuals and groups with established credibility, and who can account for their actions to the public. We also reserve our judgment to turn down some of these endorsements, in certain instances, when it compromises our formation's integrity.
This is ALYANSA's way of ensuring that this democratic exercise remains credible, as we strive to maintain our integrity to the public. We always lay down our credibility on the line every time we conduct ourselves to the public, and it is our commitment to maintain this credibility as we engage in the USC elections.
ALYANSA is said to be defending the CSSPSC in their issue regarding the Student Regent issue. Could you clear this up?
- The entire CSSPSC is NOT affiliated with ALYANSA.
- Members affiliated with Buklod CSSP (an ALYANSA affiliate), who are incumbents in the CSSPSC, did get elected into office carrying their principles. Among these principles are the commitment to reform the CRSRS. This commitment was translated into action by pushing for amendments in order to improve the current CRSRS;
- These amendments were pushed by the Council officers concerned through informal consultations, considering the logistical difficulties at the moment the decision was made.
Some are asking about ALYANSA's advocacy to include a Staff Regent in its UP Charter campaign. Could you clarify this?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
ALYANSA claims to have advocated revisions for the UP Charter. What are those revisions?
- Affirming UP's nature as a National University, which enshrined the government's moral responsibility to maintain UP as an institution;
- Reducing Malacañang appointees to the Board of Regents (from five, it is down to three), and including a Staff Regent, in order to maximize sectoral participation in the University's decision-making;
- Allowing the University to productively use its idle assets, subject to conditions that would preserve its integrity as an institution;
- Enshrining student rights by explicitly stating the requirement for student councils, a General Assembly of student councils system-wide, and the selection of a Student Regent.
What is ALYANSA's take on the use of University assets, and the accusation of its main opponent that it is "pro-commercialization"?
- The "core academic zone", consisting of existing academic buildings and their vicinities, should be maintained by limiting productive use efforts in these areas;
- Income from the productive use efforts should go directly to the University;
- The rights of the surrounding UP community, as well as the rules and regulations of the University, should be taken into consideration AT ALL TIMES.
- The UP Administration, most importantly, should attempt these efforts in a spirit of democratic consultation and transparency. Falling short of these should merit opposition from the UP community as it implies bad faith.
There are issues raised by a few students about the CSSPSC's stand on the CRSRS. What do you say about this?
Criticisms on ALYANSA's stand on the STFAP continue to circulate in UP. Can you say something about this?
- The big idea behind our STFAP stand is social justice. We are guided by the principle that those who can afford should share the burden of paying tuition in order to extend subsidies to students who need it most. This is the foundation of our position advocating a genuine socialized tuition policy, which truly benefits students from the lower brackets.
- It is not true that ALYANSA supported the STFAP bracketing system proposed by the UP Administration. Contrary to what others claim, ALYANSA lobbied hard in order to reform the STFAP system in favor of the students. Our STFAP Under Protest (click on this LINK for more information) campaign reflected this stand which was IN OPPOSITION to the UP Administration's, and our past positions prove this. In fact, even the UP Administration led by UP President Roman found our position harsh, but we believed that only through a genuine socialized tuition policy could make UP's education more accessible for all.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Someone told us about your founding faculty adviser’s issue as regards your choice of standard-bearers this year. What do you say about this?
The real test of any invitation comes when it is met by a different response than what you originally hope for. Differences in position have always existed WITHIN, and AMONG parties in campus. We believe that it is an opportunity, not a setback. In this light, and consistent with being open to each other, we remain hopeful that any differences we have will be settled in the near future.
For the meantime, we remain committed to the task at hand -- that is, to communicate that ALYANSA’s brand of leadership remains the most relevant to students and the UP community.
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Stories have been floating about a different account of the party’s selection process for this year’s standard-bearers. There are even other stories about the party in general. What is your take on it?
In a mature democracy, parties are vehicles for spirited yet civil debate, in the hope of ensuring lively participation in the political process. While parties certainly have differences AMONG its members, they come together as one in the pursuit of their principles. Parties, while valuing openness, also operate on the basic trust that their members would be promoting the party’s ideals.
Hence, “very reliable sources” claiming to “represent” a party, while issuing statements that are clearly detrimental to its well-being, must be first subjected to skepticism. It is easy to issue statements under the cloak of anonymity, but it is even harder to substantiate these without consulting the parties themselves.
We dare these “independent” sources to substantiate their claims, and come out in the open in order for these issues to be threshed out. True, we may not agree with the other parties in campus most of the time, but we believe that ALL THREE OF US be treated fairly and with respect.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
What is ALYANSA’s position regarding the current issue of the Student Regent?
On this student issue, we have three demands:
1. The UP Administration must uphold student autonomy, and allow us to resolve this issue among our ranks;
2. Ms. Bañez should personally explain her side to us, the students, her constituents in the Board of Regents; and
3. The University Student Councils of each UP unit should immediately call on their local college counterparts and convene AT ONCE a special General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) in order to select her replacement.
This is a call for action. We are one with the student body, regardless of political color, to resolve this matter immediately. We recognize that we are the stakeholders for the Office of the Student Regent (OSR) – Kasama tayo sa OSR – and it is our responsibility to act now.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Iskolars For Truth
As we approach the University Student Council elections, it is important that we talk about our issues in a candid manner, without resorting to mudslinging towards our opponents.
This site is our formation’s honest effort to answer misinformation, and elevate our electoral discourse to issues, rather than lies and defamation. Here are some of our candid answers to pressing issues.
Dito sa ALYANSA, kasama ka sa pagiging kritikal.
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Someone from ALYANSA once said, “napapanahon na ang tuition increase…” Is that true?
Related to the proposal to reform the STFAP or the tuition bracketing scheme, ALYANSA has always stood by its principle of SOCIAL JUSTICE. Applying social justice to the tuition bracketing means that those who could afford more in life should be able to share with the burden of studying in UP, in order to extend the University's limited means to poorer, more deserving scholars.
If SOCIAL JUSTICE meant raising the tuition of those who could afford more, and indeed can SHARE THE BURDEN more, so that the deserving could continue to enjoy their subsidies, then it’s a principled and practical solution. However, it doesn’t stop there. Ultimately, efforts must be undertaken in order to ensure that the University’s bracketing system maximizes the subsidies given to deserving scholars.
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ALYANSA did not field a College of Arts and Letters Representative to the USC. Someone even said that ALYANSA saw no “electoral opportunity” in CAL, hence the result of not fielding a candidate. What do you say about that?
Fielding candidates to the University Student Council are both questions of principles and logistics. We field candidates who share ALYANSA’s passion for leadership with values. Our members, on the other hand, do their best to nominate students who can be tapped to lead the next USC.
We fully realize that there is no shortage of students who share ALYANSA’s passion. However, we would be candid in saying that we are not a perfect party, and we have our own shortcomings. Nonetheless, we try our best to represent students in every college through our principles -- embodied by our volunteers and members who are in EVERY college, sharing our passion and values.
“Electoral opportunity” or otherwise, our principles remain our motivation. It is the reason why ALYANSA remains to be the best alternative to the USC, for majority or not, we remain the most hardworking party offering the broadest range of services to our fellow students.