STAND UPdate

Opisyal na pahayagan ng Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP
12 Peberero 2008

Plunderers

Monday evening last week – Jose De Venecia is removed as speaker of the House in a plan masterminded by Mikey and Dato Arroyo, two out of the three relatives of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Congress. Before and after his actual ouster, he vowed to reveal the extent of corruption committed by the Arroyo administration earlier exposed by his son, including the Hello Garci scandal, and additional scams aside from ZTE-NBN. Administration officials tried to dismiss this as mere “sour-graping” and discredits the credibility of the De Venecias.

Thursday morning – Rodolfo Lozada Jr., protected by nuns and priests, revealed in a press conference that he was abducted by military agents to prevent him from testifying on the NBN scam. In hours of testimonies until yesterday, Lozada confirmed and expounded extensively on JDV’s statements, namedropping significant personalities in the Arroyo block and citing particular acts in the fabrication of a deal that defraud the Filipino people out of billions of pesos.

Before the senate and the media unfolds one of the most corrupt and scheming regime in history. We, iskolars ng bayan, are not exempted to be witnesses. And the times challenge on our collective action to spur and join the broad populace in delivering justice.

Big deal

Lozada said it was standard practice for government projects to be overpriced by 20 percent, with the difference going to the pockets of government officials. Yesterday, he also mentioned that the SouthRail project was overpriced by that percentage.

The 130-million dollar or the 6-billion peso overcost in the NBN deal is the biggest overprice so far in Arroyo’s shopping list, which includes, among others: the overpriced Cyber Education Project ($465.5 million worth), the IMPSA deal ($14 million worth), Call Centers in State Universities (P575 million “missing” in funds), the Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard (P536 million overprice), the COMELEC counting machines (P1.4 billion worth), and the Fertilizer Fund used as election campaign funds in 2004 (P728 million worth).

And to cover up these big-time deals, the Arroyo regime spends equally gigantic amounts. It showered brown bags with 200 to 500 thousand peso each to 197 other governors and congressmen before the threat of the impeachment complaint last year. It invests on intelligence and military machinery to track-down and murder those who would dare oppose (Commissioner Abalos even threatened Lozada that he can oreder his allies in the ISAFP to kill him), and create diversionary scandals by blowing up the most unexpected places.

Big loss

The unveiling of more and more of these cases is an insult to the populace who witness the heights of injustice and disservice to them. The 130 billion dollars that the Arroyos want in their pockets can actually sustain the minimum cost of living in a day of 7.5 million families. It can also maintain the operations of all state universities and colleges for two and a half years.

For more than a year, we have upheld our stand for the junking of the 300 percent tuition increase. A scheme in which the UP admin only projects 12-36 million in additional revenues, but would render tertiary education more unaccessible for the 90 percent of youth who do not finish college. The clamor to put more budget in education was always disregarded by the regime, as it busies itself primarily with putting more budget in their private pockets.

How the UP admin spearheads the commercialization of the education sector is only reflective of how it is dictated by the government, whose big names use their power for lucrative ventures. And it is always the people who are at the losing end. Arroyo and her cohorts have more than double crossed the masses – plundering what was worked by and is due for them, and enforcing policies that prioritize profiteering over genuine social services.

Verdict

Jun Lozada said that the Filipino nation is worth making sacrifices for. We iskolars ng bayan have known, and proven this long before.

We are in the most significant times – to summon our will, and to once again collectively pursue what is just for a nation long denied of democratic access to social services, responsible governance, and genuine social change.

PAMILYANG SINDIKATO-ALISIN SA PWESTO!

LABANAN ANG KORAPSYON – IPAGLABAN ANG KARAPATAN SA SERBISYONG PANLIPUNAN TULAD NG EDUKASYON!

ISKOLAR NG BAYAN – PAGLINGKURAN ANG SAMBAYANAN!

TAMA NA, SOBRA NA ANG BULOK NA SISTEMA! PATALSIKIN SI GLORIA!

Be part:

February 13– Youth Revolt (national youth alliance for social change) meeting, 1pm, Vinzons conference room

14– Candle-lighting with students of other universities, 5pm, Katipunan

15 – Mobilization at Ayala, spaerheaded by BAYAN and other multi-sectoral groups, 3pm assembly at AS lobby

16 – Consultation with the incoming freshmen on the ToFI, in cooperation with other convenors of UMAKSYON, 1pm, UFS confrence room

17 – Jog protest action: habulin ang mga magnanakaw! 10am assembly at sunken garden in front of Vinzons hall

13 and 20 – discussion on the UP Situationer and Philippine Social Realities, 10am onwards, Vinzons lobby

18 – UP AWARE press conference and protest action

Contact us:
09167807554, 09165705860, stand.up.eb0708@ gmail.com, standupd.multiply. com

Join:

UP AWARE (Alliance working for Arroyo’s Removal)

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13th February 2008 | Filed under: Campaigns, Downloads, In Campus | Click here to follow any responses to this entry: RSS 2.0 feed