What is your stand regarding the leadership crisis in the University Student Council?

ALYANSA believes that being a student leader is commendable, as one who chooses a life of service to his fellow students often sacrifice for their good. In seeking student empowerment, which is one of our core principles, student leaders sacrifice their time, effort and even money in order to pursue causes that are bigger than themselves. For those reasons, we thank our student leaders, regardless of their political affiliation or color, because they heeded the call to serve.

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.

What has ALYANSA done regarding the UP budget cuts?

Caption: This reply by Rep. Maricar Zamora is one of the letters we have received supporting our call to oppose the budget cuts to UP and other State Colleges and Universities.

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.