UMAKSYON
Ugnayan ng Mag-aaral laban sa Komersyalisasyon- UP Dliman

What is the Ugnayan ng Mag-aaral laban sa Komersyalisasyon or UMAKSYON?

It is a broad alliance of student formations – organizations, fraternities and sororities, freshmen blocks, student councils and publications – of iskolars ng bayan of the University of the Philippines united in fighting for our right to education and opposing the intensifying commercialization of education. It enjoins iskolars ng bayan to participate in fighting for our right to education through various creative forms of action.

What does UMAKSYON believe in?

UMAKSYON believes that education is a right of the iskolars ng bayan and the Filipino people. It therefore opposes the intensifying commercialization of education – the selling of education as a commodity – which makes education a right of a few who can pay and not the right of everyone. It believes that as a right, education must be provided by the state to the people. It therefore fights for greater state subsidy for UP and education.

It opposes the following forms of commercialization of education in UP Diliman:

* The 300% UP system-wide tuition increase
* The various lab fee increases in different UPD colleges, particularly in the Colleges of Mass Communication and Engineering
* The utilization of the UP Arboretum for call centers and commercial establishments in th guise of a Science and Technology Park
* The continuing threat of demolition of UP Diliman informal communities as part of the UP Administration’s goal of consolidating its territory to further its investment viability

What are the objectives of UMAKSYON?

UMAKSYON wants to unite as many iskolars ng bayan as possible in fighting for our right to education and in opposing the intensifying commercialization of education. It wants to translate this unity in principle into collective and creative action. It wants to call the attention of the public, the UP Administration and the government to its advocacies.

At present, it is involved in the campaign to rollback the 300% UP System-wide tuition increase in light of the current economic crisis of food and energy the country faces. More so, it also stands for the total junking of the UP tuition increase policy by the UP Administration, as the policy itself is the greatest means by which the education in UP is commercialized, thus, precluding many prospective Iskolars ng Bayan from entering the University and enjoying their right as Iskolars ng Bayan.

How will UMAKSYON achieve its objectives?

UMAKSYON plans to achieve its objectives through the following:

* Launch a widespread and sustained education campaign on the right to education and the intensifying commercialization of education,
* Seek out, craft, and utilize creative forms of action, and
* Deepen research and analysis on the commercialization of education.

How will UMAKSYON work?

As main convenors of UMAKSYON, the Office of the UP Student Regent and the Student Alliance for the Advance of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND-UP) are asking all student formations to join UMAKSYON. All members of UMAKSYON shall meet at least once in every two months in the UMAKSYON Meet. UMAKSYON shall have in the minimum four (4) committees: (1) secretariat, (2) education and research, (3) propaganda, and (4) finance. Members shall be asked to join one of these committees.

We also request all student formations to become co-convenors of UMAKSYON. The As co-convenors shall form the Board of Convenors which shall meet regularly to ensure the implementation of the plans of UMAKSYON. It is from the Board of Convenors that heads of the committees shall be appointed. Committees will likewise hold regular meetings to ensure the implementation of the plans of UMAKSYON.

UMAKSYON Manifesto

As part of the united resolve of Iskolars ng Bayan to decisvely confront the unabated commericialization of our beloved University, We, student councils, student publications, student organizations, fraternities and sororities of the University of the Philippines Diliman, unequivocally declare the following:

1. UMAKSYON believes that education is a right of the iskolars ng bayan and the Filipino people. It therefore opposes the intensifying commercialization of education – the selling of education as a commodity – which makes education a right of a few who can pay and not the right of everyone. It believes that as a right, education must be provided by the state to the people. It therefore fights for greater state subsidy for UP and education.
2. That the 300% UP System-Wide tuition increase be rolled back by the UP Administration, in light of the current economic crisis the country faces, particularly the skyrocketing prices of rice, oil and other basic commodities. According to reports, the price of gasoline might reach as high as PhP65/liter while the price of rice might reach as high as PhP60/kilo. Both are utterly unreasonable economic burden the average Filipino family needs to bear which the UP Administration needs to recognize as well. Thus, the University of the Philippines must actively contribute its part in alleviating the plight of its tens of thousands of students who face these difficult economic conditions, all of which cannot necessarily be answered by UP’s mere offer of student loans and numerous scholarships.
3. That in order for the best and the brightest Filipino youth to continue enjoying their right to education in the years to come, the approved 300% UP sytem-wide tuition increase policy last December 2006 must be abated conclusively. In the last two years of its implementation, the University of the Philippines saw a decline in enrollment of freshman students, especially in unmarketable yet very important academic institutions such as creative writing, geodetic engineering, fisheries, among others. There have also been countless reports of unjust mismatches in the STFAP, in which many poor yet deserving students are rebracketed to Brackets C and B despite conclusive proof of their economic situation. This has led to a record number of unneccesary student loans and several reports of student dropouts by year-end.
4. That, while the UP Administration has much to account for pushing this policy to the detriment of our right to accessible education, the greatest accountability lies in the doorsteps of Malacanang. For years, the policy of the Arroyo government has always been to force state colleges and universities (SCUs) to internally generate its own income for operations, as the long-standing policy of her government is to annually decrease subsidies to these state schools under the Long-Term Higher Education Development Plan (LTHEDP) of the late 90s. This policy is clearly anathema to the long-term development of our state schools, especially the University of the Philippines. First, instead of the UP being able to recruit the best young minds in the country today, numerous students may be unnecesarily hampered by ther financial incapacity to pay the high tuition rates that shall be imposed under such a commercialization policy by government. Second, such a policy shall only lead to greater commercialization measures by state schools such as the utilization of idle assets for commercial purposes instead of using these lands for the further development of our academic programs and institutions. Worst of all, this policy clears the way for the likely future of total state abandonment of our state colleges and universities, where these SCUs shall soon operate like private educational institutions with high tuition rates and without the needed government subsidies to ensure that all students regardless of socio-economic class may enjoy a college education.
5. That, the only answer to the increasing financial woes of the University and other SCUs has always been full subsidies by the Arroyo government to these schools, as no amount of tuition increases or commercialization measures can necessarily account for the structural backwardness of our academic institutitions to make it at par with leading universities abroad.
6. That, as the leading alliance against commercialization, UMAKSYON shall unite as many iskolars ng bayan as possible in fighting for our right to education and in opposing the intensifying commercialization of education. It shall translate this unity in principle into collective and creative action. It shall call the attention of the public, the UP Administration and the government to its advocacies.
UMAKSYON concept paper