Four Whats about the Defend the OSR Campaign
What do we defend the office of the student regent from?
We defend the Student regent from layers of intervention. Whereas the new charter states that the rules for selecting the student regent through a referendum. Subjecting the rules to a referendum without consultation of the students and without the clamor coming from the students is enough to justify how the administration bypassed our right to be heard.
That the legislators passed (railroaded!) and the President passed the Charter legitimize what UP administration imposed on students through the Charter. This is the government’s gravest sin to us students.
Also, we defend the Office of the Student Regent from the possible repercussions when the referendum fails.
Once it does, there is a possibility that the seat of the student regent will be left vacant. We cannot afford to have a “lull time”. We cannot just sit on our rights just like that.
A worse case, probably the worst, is that a Malacañang appointee may take the place of the student regent. Who will Malacañang appoint, then? Allowing another appointee from the palace means forgoing a seat that represents us students, the biggest stakeholders of the university.
These scenarios may all be possible, especially at this time when the administration passes makes acts disrespectful to students, one after the other. The administration did not hold any consultation on the use of the Arboretum for commercial purposes, as well as on the new Charter itself. We cannot afford to be bypassed by the administration yet again. We cannot afford to put the existence of the OSR in further danger (which our administrators did when they subjected the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection-CRSRS-to a referendum). As an old saying goes, better be safe than sorry.
And oh, that Malacañang may choose a student is not a consolation, either. It transgresses the tradition that the selection of the student regent should purely be a student affair. After all, it is the students’ interests, not Malacañang’s, that the OSR shall advance.
What’s with CRSRS?
In a nutshell, CRSRS, or the Codified Rules for Student Regent Selection, governs the whole process of selecting a student regent. It is a 10-year document enriched by the wisdom of the previous student councils. It has ensured an efficient means of choosing the SR, and such efficient mechanism has produced competent student regents whose track record in fighting for tuition and other fees, among other policies, were proven to be commendable. This is the document that will be subjected to a referendum.
What is KASAMA sa UP?
The Katipunan ng mga Sanggunihang Mag-aaral sa UP is an alliance of student councils from different units within the university. This alliance, formed in 1981, lobbied for student representation to the Board of Regents until 1987, when the administration finally recognized the need for such. Today, KASAMA sa UP serves as the secretariat of the Office of the Student Regent. It ensures that all policies that will directly affect the students are disseminated among the university units and that the concerns of the students regarding these policies will be forwarded. It also gives equal footing to all UP units, so that these units can be heard when they register their stand on tuition, tambayan, and organizations, among other student issues.
What do we defend along with defending the Office of the Student Regent?
By defending the OSR, we defend our rights to be heard. We show a willingness to fight for what we should be getting and against what should not be imposed on us. In the light of an impending TOFI (which President Roman disclosed on the cable channel ANC last month), the growing number of incidents of military intervention(of the military entering the premises of UP Baguio in full battle gear and of intelligence officials asking for personal records of student leaders in UP Los Baños) and existence of commercial entities masking their intentions in “corporate social responsibility” endeavors, we need to forge a certain unity that tells them we do not bow down to such measures.
Saying yes to the referendum is a symbolic show of force-it is a way of telling the administration that we are upholding our right to be represented in decisions the administration make, and we are serious about our representation in the BOR. More than modifying the rules, the more urgent task at hand is to ensure, in the immediate, that there will be rules that govern the selection of the student regent, so we can easily push through with the selection process, and thus, secure a seat for the SR and ensure our interests as students will be delivered and furthered in the BOR.