For the past 30 years, the USC has failed to make its financial reports public. GIAN JEREMY SUYAT

By Karlitos Brian Decena, Gianfranco Geronimo and Dawnavie Dadis

Fifteen years ago, Ibarra Gutierrez III did the unusual: he served as the student council chairperson of the University of the Philippines Diliman just three months after his term as the editor-in-chief of UP’s official publication, the Philippine Collegian.

But Gutierrez’s uniqueness did not change an old misdeed the University Student Council (USC) has been doing through the years. In fact, he just shrugged it off.

“Since it was not being enforced anyway, nobody felt the need to, I suppose, comply with it,” Gutierrez said. “I can’t even recall a single USC that did that.”

The USC has, over the years, ignored a simple yet crucial provision in its constitution (see here: 1980 USC constitution), raising issues on whether or not the council is accountable enough to students whose tuition comprise a big chunk of its funds.

Issues of the Collegian for the past 30 years archived for this report revealed that since the creation of the USC constitution in 1980, only seven student councils published their financial reports in the newspaper. Art. VIII, Sec. 4 of the constitution requires the publication of the council’s financial report in the Collegian every semester.

A wide gap of years divides every USC financial report that graces the Collegian. Worse, all of the reports failed to comply with the requirements of the constitution. It took 12 years from the creation of USC constitution for the first statement of finances to come out, during the time of Angelo Jimenez as the USC chair in 1991.

However, Jimenez’s report, the only one during the 1990s, covered only first half of his term.

No reports were published during the 1980s, the period when the constitution was created.

Eleven years passed before the next financial report of the council was published under the leadership of Rommel Romato in 2002. However, the report still failed to obey the constitution as it only covered the first semester of the academic year.

The 2002 USC financial report was followed by five other councils – under JPaul Manzanilla in 2003, Kristian Ablan in 2004, Shahana Abdulwahid in 2007, Herminio Bagro III in 2008 and Titus Tan in 2009. The 2000s was a major turnaround from the past decades as six statements of finances were published during that time.

These councils, however, still failed to comply with the provision, as they published the financial reports only once during their terms.

Interviews with some former council chairpersons and Collegian editors for the past 30 years cited various reasons for not following the constitution. Gutierrez claimed the records suddenly disappeared when they were about to make the financial report.

“For some strange reason, all the records… (they were) all lost!” Gutierrez said.

He said the record-keeping system of the council was not secure, resulting to a loss of important documents that the council only realized during the final days of their term.

Meanwhile, 2009 USC Chairperson Titus Tan cited the problematic transition of power from the outgoing to the incoming councils as the reason for the non-publication of the council’s financial reports.

Preparing the reports and clearing up the council’s funds, Tan said, are usually done at the end of the term – contrary to the semi-annual requirement of the constitution – when most council members have already graduated and lost interest in finishing tasks.

“There is a culture (in the council) that after the term, many (of the council members)
disappear,” Tan said.

Former Collegian Editor-in-Chief Herbert Docena also said that he would have published the council’s finances if the USC gave him its reports.

“I don’t remember him (USC chair) or any other council member giving the Collegian a copy of their financial statement,” said Docena, the 2000 Collegian chief. “And it would certainly have been newsworthy (if it was published).”

List of financial reports submitted by the USC from 1980-2010. INFOGRAPHIC BY DAWNAVIE DADIS

But the USC should not be solely blamed for breaking the rules. After all, it is the Collegian that has the say as to what issue and page section the financial reports would come out.

Former Collegian editor-in-chief Raphael Lotilla said pressing issues during his time pushed aside the release of the financial statement of the USC.

“I recall the requirement of publication of the financial report, but the (student population) was occupied with the Aquino assassination and the waves of events that swept through our student lives at that time,” said Lotilla, the newspaper’s head in 1983.

Another former staffer, Bernard Cobarrubias, said the USC furnished them a copy of a financial report, but his fellow editors argued against its publication due to lack of space in the newspaper.

“I recall that the Collegian had no space for it, to the dismay of the then USC reps,” said Cobarrubias, who served as the features editor before becoming the Collegian editor-in-chief in1993.

Compared to other USC-related stories that consistently appeared in its issues, such as yearly assessments and the attendance of the council members for the whole term, most of the financial reports were almost unnoticeable to the readers.

In fact, only four of the seven financial reports published in the Collegian occupied at least half of the paper’s page. The rest only occupied small spaces of the Collegian – comparable to the sizes of today’s classified ads. Two financial reports came with an article – in 2002 when a feature story about the history of the USC was put alongside the statement of funds, and the 2008 report when it was accompanied by an article on the assessment of the USC for the 100th anniversary of UP.

Cobarrubias, now a lawyer, said this issue is reflective of how independent the Collegian is from the USC.

“On USC’s part, they may presumably just want to comply with the requirement… But on the Collegian’s part, it would want to exercise its broad editorial prerogative,” Cobarrubias said.

But whichever of the council or Collegian is at fault, neither institution strictly followed the constitution. The reason, Tan said, is the constitution’s lack of a “penalizing mechanism” that would assure all of its provisions followed and its violators liable.

“So even if that certain council did not release (the financial reports), they would get away with it because there is no mechanism to run after them,” Tan said. “The only thing that would make them do so is accountability from the students.”

Tan believes that students should demand the USC to make its finances public.

“(What is needed) is pressure from the students. When it’s your term, it’s your (the council) name that is in it (financial reports),” he said.

Napoleon Poblador, the 1982 Collegian chief, also pointed out that the provision is necessary to ensure the funds of the council are spent on reasonable activities and projects.

“Students have the right to know how the money they contribute is being spent by the people they elect to man the USC,” Poblador said. “These people, being only human, will be tempted to abuse their prerogatives (if the provision is not followed).”

Last year’s USC chairperson Rainier Sindayen echoed the same sentiments, saying that students should be well-informed with how the USC works with its finances.

However, no financial reports were published during Sindayen’s term, citing the resignation of their finance committee head as a reason.

“Due to the inefficiency of our finance committee, we were not able to make a financial report,” Sindayen said.

Current USC chairperson Jemimah Garcia, meanwhile, vows to fix this dilemma under her watch.

“Rest assured that our Finance Committee is a hardworking committee,” Garcia said. “This USC will release its semestral financial reports through the Oblation (USC’s official publication), and more importantly through the Philippine Collegian, as mandated by the USC Constitution.”

Sindayen, however, rejected the idea of amending the constitution to resolve this practice of the council.

“I think the house rules would suffice to address that in the interest of transparency and accountability to our constituents,” Sindayen said.

Tan, meanwhile, said that a system involving other offices in the university is needed to ensure that both the council and the Collegian abide to the rules.

“These kinds of mechanisms (are needed) to hold accountable (those who do not follow the rules), ” Tan said.

But Gutierrez, now a law professor at UP, remains unfazed with the issue, saying there is really no big deal publishing the financial reports of the council.

“Even if the formal requirement was not followed, I don’t think that there was injury done to everyone,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez added that the students would have little interest on it since the council funds are too small.

“I suppose the amounts concerned are very trivial,” Gutierrez said. “I can’t even remember one meeting that we were given one softdrink.”

This report was originally written by journalism students Decena, Geronimo and Dadis for their investigative reporting class last semester.

Students run around the UP Academic Oval to call for a bigger budget allotment for education on 13 July 2011. The run is the first in a series of protests against the “education crisis.” BEA FABROS

By Dean Lozarie

Members of the University Student Council and their college-level counterparts jogged around the Academic Oval Tuesday to call for greater government support for education.

Around 50 students chanted and carried placards calling for an end to the “education crisis.”

“Bagong taon na naman ang dumating sa atin ngayon, bagong pagpasok natin sa unibersidad pero pareho pa rin yung mga issue na kinakaharap natin (It’s a new academic year but we’re still facing the same issues),” said College of Mass Communication Student Council Chairperson Norman Riego.

“Pagpapakita ito dun sa administrasyon na kahit patuloy ang problemang inihaharap niyo sa amin, eh di patuloy din kaming lalaban para sa aming mga karapatan (This will show the administration that if they continue to present us with problems, we will continue to fight for our rights),” Riego added.

The student councils of the College of Arts and Letters, College of Human Kinetics, School of Library and Information Studies, and College of Social Welfare and Community Development also joined the run organized by the UP system-wide alliance of student councils, Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP).

The jog is the first in a series of protest actions planned in the hopes of encouraging the government to allot a bigger budget for education, said STAND UP Secretary General RG Tesa.

He added that student groups are beginning protest actions earlier this year, while the budget is still being laid out in the Department of Budget and Management.

Students run around the UP Academic Oval to call for a bigger budget for education. BEA FABROS

Tesa said last year’s strikes came too late as the budget deliberations were almost finished at the height of the protests.

“Tinatakdaan ng mga iskolar ng bayan na maaga nating sisimulan ang laban para sa mas mataas na subsidyo para sa edukasyon at maaga rin tayong magtatagumpay (The scholars of the nation have decided to start the fight for greater subsidy for education earlier, and we will also succeed early),” said the secretary-general.

Militant groups are also set to lead a campus-wide walkout on July 14, a nationwide boycott, which includes private universities, on July 19, and People’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) demonstrations during President Benigno Aquino III’s second SONA on July 25.

Sudents attend Upheaval: Defending the Right to Education, Forgoing Unities in Struggle at the School of Economics Auditorium on 28 June 2011. Afternoon classes were suspended to make way for the event. MICHELLE ANGELICA SORIANO

The University Student Council presented Tuesday a draft of a handbook meant to be an alternative to the 2010 Student Code of Conduct, which has been criticized as anti-student by several student groups.

USC Chairperson Jemimah Grace Garcia said the Student Handbook of Rights and Responsibilities focused on student rights, rather than penalties for delinquency because “[under] normal circumstance[s], UP students are in UP to be iskolars ng bayan and not to do wrong.”

During the Diliman Student Summit, an annual meeting of student groups, Garcia said the Student Review Committee decided to draft its own handbook as a “counterproposal” to the 2010 Student Code of Conduct, which did not undergo student consultation.

“May mga sanctions na kung hindi dumaan sa mga estudyante, kawawa naman tayo (If the code wasn’t reviewed by students, it would have included oppressive sanctions),” Garcia said.

Excluded from the new handbook are the strict guidelines for student organization recognition, one of the contested policies in the current administration-drafted code of conduct.

If approved, the handbook will give college councils leeway in creating rules for organization recognition. Under the current setup, organizations must apply for recognition before the Office of Student Affairs.

The handbook was drafted over the summer by the Student Review Committee, headed by Garcia and composed of the USC, League of College Councils, Office of the Student Regent, and student councils from the colleges and schools in the university.

KAISA (Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan) has USC Councilors Marck Bryan David and Marvee dela Resma for chairperson and vice chairperson, respectively, along with 10 candidates for councilor and eight for college representatives.

STAND-UP (Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP) will be represented by USC Councilors Jemimah Grace Garcia and Dan Neil Ramos for chairperson and vice chairperson, along with 12 candidates for councilor, and 10 candidates for college representatives.

Running for college representatives as independents respectively are Duchess Aleksie Duque (Arki), Jan Kevin Rivera (CMC), and Antonio Rafael Ongkeko, Jr. (NCPAG).

All previously disapproved candidacies have been approved on Jan. 27, save for Miguel Jose Angeles (Independent), who was running for College of Science representative.

At stake in the Feb. 17 elections are the positions of USC chairperson, vice chairperson, 12 USC councilors, and the various college representatives in the campus’ different academic units.

In results from the quickest election count in UP history, Titus Tan of Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA) won chairperson of the 2009 University Student Council (USC) on Feb. 25, the first time for the yellow party since it was founded in 2005.

The 2009 election, when all voting in UP Diliman was uniformly done and counted electronically for the first time, gave KAISA 11 seats in the 34-member council, along with Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (Stand-UP). Nine seats went to the Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral Para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA), while three went to independent candidates. (see updated USC elections 2009 results)

Tan scored a more than 1,500-vote lead over Airah Cadiogan of Stand-UP, to whom he lost last year in a tight race for USC vice chair. Tan got 4,900 votes while Cadiogan won 3,389. Niña Marie Angela Acasio of ALYANSA meanwhile gained 1,276 votes.

Stand-UP’s Jaqueline Joy Eroles won USC vice chair over Joseph Miguel Gutierrez of ALYANSA with a 614-vote difference. Both are councilors in the outgoing council.

Tan, the first candidate from KAISA to win a councilor seat in 2006, is also joined in the incoming USC by three councilors from KAISA. They won the last of the 12 councilor seats and gave their party its first councilor posts since Tan first won.

An independent candidate, Christopher Mariano “Kester” Yu, meanwhile became the number one councilor after running on an environment-focused platform. In at least four years, it was also the first time an independent snagged the most votes among councilors.

Stand-UP and ALYANSA shared four councilor seats each. The other independent, Arnie “Bong” Arquiza, landed 24th place among the 35 candidates.

Tan and Yu both come from the College of Science, where they succeeded each other as college student council chairpersons.

All goes electronic

This year’s vote also put to its first large-scale test an electronic voting system that for the first time connected computers in precincts all over UP Diliman.

Students this year had a chance to vote by merely registering at the precinct, logging online with their student numbers and generated passwords, selecting their favored candidates, and confirming their votes with a mouse click.

Voter turnout this year dipped almost three points from last year, with 10,024 students or 42.96 percent of the total voting population of 23,333. The 2008 elections registered a 45.91 percent turnout.

Members of the technical team from the UP Linux Users Group (UnPLUG) stationed across the precincts to assist students and facilitate the voting.

UnPLUG developed the open-source software used for the elections, which has been used in dormitory council elections for some years and at five UP buildings in last year’s elections.

Votes cast from all colleges were monitored and counted by a central server in the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute. After 7 p.m., the team at the server had to wait for all precincts to finish before it could close the system and start counting, members said.

All precincts finally closed around 7:30 p.m. Less than a minute after, the total results were available for viewing in each precinct.

Last year, election watchers had to hold vigil in Vinzons Hall until early morning as the results came in from each college, the larger or farther ones often near the end.

Despite technical setbacks on election morning, the election turned out “successful,” as described by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Elizabeth Enriquez to the Philippine Collegian.

Six students in various colleges were reported by the Collegian to have voted manually. Other students’ names also did not show up in the database.

A number could not vote at once due to problems logging in. Usually these were caused by mistyping the passwords given to them, said UnPLUG members. For instance, the students often mistake the small letter L for the number 1.

UnPLUG told TNP/UPJourn.net it hopes to release the breakdown of votes this week.

Titus Tan of KAISA arrives at the College of Mass Communication for an informal debate for USC candidates.

By Rachel Miranda and Katrina Alba
Tinig ng Plaridel / UPJourn.net

If building call centers and commercial centers on UP’s unused land is commercialization, how about building a zoo?

Titus Tan, Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA) candidate for University Student Council (USC) chairperson, gave this as an instance of a “productive” use for UP’s idle assets when asked for alternatives to tuition and other fees increase (TFI) at a USC mudslinging event last Feb. 20 at Palma Hall.

Tan and three other candidates from KAISA joined four candidates from Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral Para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA), four from Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND-UP), and one independent candidate at the debate dubbed “Babangon Ako’t Dudurugin Kita.”

A zoo, Tan said, was his favorite example of how using the university’s resources generate income for the university while still “encourag(ing) academic integrity,” one of five “safety nets” KAISA proposed to ensure that using these lands does not border on commercializing UP.

“Ang lupa kasi is a form of state subsidy that is given by the government for us to utilize,” Tan said. “So one example na pinakagusto kong i-share: kunwari magpatayo tayo ng zoo dyan. It is not commercialization.”

Other safeguards KAISA proposed in its General Program of Action (GPOA) were consulting with affected sectors, not using these lands as a substitute for the state subsidy, preserving the environment, and ensuring transparency.

Councilor candidate Raymond Pestana from STAND-UP replied, “The problem with (these proposals) is that they entice commodification. Iiba ang focus ng administration. Magtayo tayo ng structures sa UP para pumunta ang tao, magka-pera tayo. It’s not just for education.”

When asked if the global financial crisis would make it hard for UP to get a higher share in the national budget, STAND-UP’s Jemimah Garcia said the worsening economy is enough reason the government should invest more in social services for the people.

“May pera ang gobyerno. Ang problema ay allocation,” Garcia said. STAND-UP is calling for collective action by students to campaign for greater state subsidy for UP and other state universities and colleges.

KAISA, ALYANSA, and independent candidate Christopher Yu all called for UP to develop its lands to supplement the government subsidy which funds the university.

ALYANSA is also campaigning to strengthen the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) as an alternative to TFI.

JB Gomez, running for councilor under ALYANSA, said, “Naniniwala tayo na (kung) kayang magbayad, bakit hindi magbayad? Ang hindi kayang magbayad, bakit dapat magbayad? Tutulungan na lang.”

KAISA challenged ALYANSA’s answer, saying that such a system of the rich paying more to answer for the less-fortunate was already present in the taxes paid by the parents of UP students.

The mudslinging was organized by the Halalan sa Diliman ’09 team led by the Philippine Collegian and UP Solidaridad, a system-wide alliance of student publications and writers’ organizations.

Keeping votes safe and correct need not be a problem in the upcoming University Student Council (USC) elections.

Rystraum Gamonez, University of the Philippines Linux Users Group (UnPLUG) president, assured student voters this year’s fully computerized election system would run smoothly as planned.

“The possibility of it being hacked is very low. In the event that someone attempts to do so, it will be easily detected by our computer server.” Gamonez said.

Votes would also be immediately confirmed after being “cast,” thus eliminating the possibility of multiple voting. “The system blocks any attempt to re-vote using the same issued user name and password,” Gamonez said.

Gamonez also guaranteed tamper-free election results since the processing of the ballots would only involve retrieval of votes from various colleges. “The only physical paper that has to be handled would be the final and certified election results that would be printed out,” he said.

UnPLUG’s technical team, which developed the “Halalan” automated voting system, has been working closely with the UP Computer Center and the University Student Electoral Board to facilitate the elections.

“There will be at least one UnPLUG volunteer at each precinct on election day. They will monitor the use of software and offer assistance if needed,” Gamonez said.

According to a Philippine Collegian report, at least 22,000 students would cast their votes in UP Diliman on Wednesday, with polls closing at 7:00 P.M.. The votes would be counted soon after.

“Halalan”, already a fixture in some UP dormitory council elections, was first used by the College of Engineering and the School of Statistics in the 2007 university vote.

Last year, three more units adapted the system: the College of Mass Communication, the School of Library and Information Science, and the College of Business Administration.

Part 1 and Part 2 have been posted previously. You can view all the videos on Vimeo.

Question # 3: “Natapos na ang SR referendum at naratipika ang CRSRS. Batay sa inyong mga pahayag, lahat kayo ay naniniwala na mahalaga ang student representation. Ano nga ba ang tunay na kahulugan ng ‘student representation’ para sa inyo?”

Audience question: “Looking back, ano ang pagkukulang na hindi ginawa sa paghahanda sa CRSRS referendum?”

Stand-UP responds.

Audience question: “Looking back, ano ang pagkukulang na hindi ginawa sa paghahanda sa CRSRS referendum?”

ALYANSA responds.

Question # 4: “Finals week. Hating gabi. Nasa Vinzons Hall ka. May mahalagang pulong ang USC tungkol sa isang event na bukas magaganap, at ikaw ang punong abala. Ngunit, meron ka ring pagsusulut bukas ng umaga, at hindi ka pa nakapag-aral. Ito ang magpapasiya kung papasa o babagsak ka sa klase na iyon. Ano ang gagawin mo?”

Question # 5: “Ano ang iyong pagtatasa sa outgoing University Student Council?”

(This video series encompasses the first five questions asked to candidates during the event, as well as questions from the audience. Videos taken by Tinig Ng Plaridel staff members Jenin Velasquez and Rachel Miranda.)

2009 USC Elections Mudslinging (February 20, 2008) – Part 2 from Rachel Miranda on Vimeo.

Part 2: (question was cut off)

Question # 2: “Sa panahon ng krisis pang-ekonomiya, malabo nang makakuha ang unibersidad ng mas mataas na pondo mula sa gobyerno. May alternatibo pa ba sa tuition and other fees increase (TFI)?”

Also includes a question from an audience member.

Previous parts: Part 1

(This video series encompasses the first five questions asked to candidates during the event, as well as questions from the audience. Video taken by Tinig Ng Plaridel staff members Jenin Velasquez and Rachel Miranda.)

Party politics has hindered student leaders from serving the students, said the independent candidates for University Student Council (USC) councilor in separate interviews.

The candidates earlier said during a Feb. 12 forum at Kalayaan Residence Hall that they did not need parties to win.

For Arnie “Bong” Arquiza, the party culture in university has become reflective of present Philippine politics.

Students’ interests have taken a backseat because most student leaders “put forward their political interests first,” Arquiza said.

Arquiza said being free from political partisanship was one way he could better serve the students, adding that leaders did not need to totally embrace a party’s principles.

“I really think that my loyalty should remain with the students and not with any of the parties,” Arquiza said.

He said the edge of being independent, despite the lack of machinery and finances, was “the overwhelming reception that the students are giving me.”

Meanwhile, Christopher “Kester” Yu said he ran as an independent because he did not want to take part in the petty rivalry between the three major parties.

“Sometimes, the rivalry between these parties gets in the way of their members’ service to the students,” Yu said.

However, Yu said that if he won, he would not alienate himself from any of the parties and maintain good working relationship with fellow council members.

Yu, the outgoing chair of the College of Science Student Council, said he made “more friends than enemies” during the campaign as an independent.

He added that he did not train formally for the campaign and even had to design and cut his publicity materials on his own.

In USC, a ‘game of numbers’

USC councilor Lauryel Castillo, who ran independently in last year’s elections, said that only independents can genuinely consider divergent viewpoints.

“No matter how a member of a party insists that he or she will be open to varying
perspectives, the extent of that openness would still be determined by the party,” he said.

Castillo said he intended to bridge the members of different parties. “I thought that an independent candidate would be in the best position to do all of these,” he said.

Decision-making in the USC is a “game of numbers” for the parties, Castillo said.

“Decisions on which programs, projects or stands would benefit the studentry are based solely on the number of incumbent USC members each party has,” he said.

“More often than not, those who make it to the USC find themselves engaged in more politics than service,” he said.

Castillo ranked fifth among 32 candidates for USC councilor last year, winning 2,998 votes.

Castillo’s showing was the highest for an independent candidate in UP Diliman since the 2004 USC Elections.