Fifth of November Rigmarole!

disclaimer, before anything else: a spontaneous super-extra rough draft!

Remember remember the fifth of november bla bla bla, shall (re)post the comics later or some day in the near future. Guy Fawkes, V for Vendetta whatsoever, wiki elaborated about the 5th of November: "1605 – Gunpowder Plot: A conspiracy led by Robert Catesby to blow up the English Houses of Parliament is thwarted when Sir Thomas Knyvet, a justice of the peace, finds Guy Fawkes in a cellar below the House of Lords."

***

First stop, general GASC adventure! Backgrounder: The General Assembly of Student Councils convene to amend the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) and eventually select the next Student Regent (SR)--the student representative in the highest policy-making body of the University of the Philippines System. There has been this post (and this post), to which this post responds, but I shall try not to dwell on those issues they already discussed.

Amendments have been proposed ad infinitum, but has then been rejected by the GASC. Only in 2005 has those amendments been "accepted," but that resulted into our deliberation until daybreak (actually, if I remember correctly, the 2005 GASC that selected Raffy Jones Sanchez in UPLB was concluded at about 7am the next day)! No argumentations and hypothetical hocus pocus: this clearly is just one of the downsides of the one-council-one-vote proposal, given that the SR shall be selected by a two-thirds vote to represent the UP students in the Board of Regents policy-making. Imagine the intimidation Malacanang regents and their cohorts might inflict upon an SR roughly voted by a simple majority. With the current CRSRS, the SR has been harassed. What more if s/he was not voted by a relatively larger fraction of the student councils.

Another forever proposed is the grade requirement for the SR post. Time and again, grades are subjective. There are even student leaders (including me!) who were suspended because of admin-manufactured cases further trumped-up by their lapdogs disguised as student leaders. And, if the SR nominee's academic record is exceptional, then why not try convince students that his/her grades can suffice for the SR post by including his/her awards or whatsoever in his/her CV and mission and vision statement? Nothing bars the SR nominee to announce that s/he is running for honors, a super genius, and the like! Let the students decide. Democratize the process by not excluding those student leaders who are not, really, delinquents--but rather opinionated and principled enough to be targets of political harassment, especially of governing powers in universities and colleges. And if you assume the SR nominee's delinquency, then grill him/her during the deliberation process. Nothing shall stop anyone from doing so! Ask the SR aspirant, "Kaklase mo ko sa English 2, bat ka bagsak?" at your own risk, especially if you really think that THAT failure shall hinder her serving the students.

***

Next stop, GASC 2005! (GASC lang naman ata etong post na to eh!). I vividly remember how one of my co-councilors cried telling me that (Ate) Shine (Salgado) is really his SR choice because they (his political party, I presume) have worked with her already, and they know her work ethics and her competence for the SR post despite her failure to answer my general question about the World Trade Organization (as general as "If you exit this room and find yourself at the WTO meeting, what would you tell them?"). I alone (and Irvin Rivera during the CRSRS segment ata ano?), based on the grilling, wanted Raffy Jones Sanchez to be selected because of how he performed during the deliberations. As mentioned in a comment, the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council (CASSC) voted for the aforementioned amendments plus the removal of KASAMA sa UP (Kalipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP, which by the way, invites ALL student councils of the UP system but they (majority of the 2005 CASSC and their superfriends) wanted it removed from the CRSRS document because of its alleged "bias" despite KASAMA sa UP's role in the SR Office as merely secretariat) amendment.

Though such political differences exist between myself and my co-councilors that are present during the Assembly, I have to commend their recognition of my disagreement with their decisions. I still remember Karl Marx Conde saying "The CAS Student Council votes for the amendment with the strong contention of Mr. Acuna." But, I shall never forget when the CASSC sponsored the "Malacanang on the spot" forum where a Cabinet member of Arroyo was invited as speaker. All these without the consent of the council members, including those who ran under their political party. I later found out that only the chair decided on the matter. O well, sorry, another issue pala iyon, but I can't help but remember. I think, though, that this tyranny of numbers of the current USC UPLB is worse than the 2005 student councils.

***

Last stop, GASC 2007 [?], o was it 2008? Ugh, basta USC 2007-08 ang representatives. (Sabi na nga ba, GASC nostalgia ang post na to eh. Related pa rin naman sa 5th of November kasi British Parliament ang pasasabugin.. tama na.. obyus nang palusot.) Er.. sorry for the self-reference, but this was my GASC performance art event. In essence, what I said on the podium was about the carousel of an argument for/against the amendment barrage of parliamentary blabber from the majority and the grouplet that endlessly propose the amendment annually as if that is their pledged obligation or whatever they wanted to call that twisted pilgrimage of their heroic deeds! (agit! sorry naman. inhale-exhale. wrong grammer? k!) Anyway, I did actually revolve around the podium like an earth to a sun while stating what the USC UPLB 2007-08 thinks regarding the assembly and the amendment in consideration.

It is quite infuriating that up until now, the same amendments from the same proponents in the same event that is the GASC plague the solidarity of UP students against the 1.39 billion-peso UP education budget cut--later to find out that allegedly, the so-called "student leaders" of UPLB walked out and expressed their dissent under the pretense of a beachscapade! Do not dare be judgmental. That is an alternative form of protest! As I've said, never ever walkout from your classes to campaign against education budget cut, because grades are the end-all and be-all (hence the "we are students first before we are leaders" law and other sorts of individualistic crap)! If you have the urge to walkout for the welfare of the students, do so during a meeting de avance when you can no longer answer the other politcal party, or during a deliberation re: the mentioned UP budget cut, so you could protest while having fun in the beach like hip and cool (never grim and determined! ew!) student leaders--alternative activist leaders for the students: "iskolar ng bayan para sa bayan."

***

It came to an end and all I loudmouthed, in written form, was all about the GASC. Meanwhile, where is the stand of the current USC of UPLB on other issues? Where is the promised assessment of the FIRST State of the Nation Address of the Haciendero Republic? Is the GASC the favorite activity of this USC? Next perhaps to the February Fair and Parties against Large Class Policy? O I remember this Council of Student Leaders meeting!

***

All these are inquiries from an alumnus (Naks!). May the current USC take these as questions and challenges rather than mere bashing. I think I had my statements backed by somehow objective conditions, with, of course, my inevitably subjective inputs.

***

[eto kung ayaw magclick ng link. statement ng usc uplb]