OFFICE OF THE STUDENT COUNCIL 1

University of the Philippines Cebu 2

Room 165, Arts and Sciences Building 3
Minutes of the Meeting 4
5
Last July 9, 2014, the University of the Philippines Cebu Student Council 2014 6
2015 conducted its 12
th
official meeting at the Student Council Office. The meeting was 7
called to order at 4:30PM with 10 members present and 4 absent. The meeting was 8
presided by the Student Council Vice-Chairperson, Mr. France Kevin Degamo. 9
10
The following were present in the meeting: 11
France Kevin Degamo (Vice-Chairperson) 12
Vince Francis Dingding (Councilor) 13
Angel Rose Trocio (Councilor) 14
Chatch Calderon (Councilor) 15
Cristine Hellery Libres (4
th
Year Representative) 16
Christine Meriz (4
th
Year Representative) late; arrived at 8:30, City Hall event 17
Carmen Jonahville Matarlo (3
rd
Year Representative) 18
Patrick Byron Gattoc (2
nd
Year Representative) 19
Hannah Lois Tidalgo (2
nd
Year Representative) late; arrived at 5:15; went out 20
11pm 21
Damsel Mondido (FA Representative) 22
23
The following were absent in the meeting: 24
April Dyan Gumanao (Chairperson) went home to Kidapawan 25
Darl Octa Henessa Santos (Councilor) went home to Biliran 26
Justine Luis Raphael Balane (3
rd
Year Representative) went home to Cagayan 27
de Oro 28
Narlyn Dura (FA Rerpresentative) still in Samar 29
30
I. CALL TO ORDER 31
The meeting was called to order at 4:30PM. Quorum was established. 32
33
A. AGENDA 34
35
After the quorum was reached, the meeting was called to order and Vice 36
Chairperson Degamo presented the following agenda. 37
38
1. Business Arising 39
Reading of the Minutes of the 11
th
SC meeting 40
2. STS Reports 41
Appeals 42
Survey 43
Campaign 5:30 44
PM 45
3. Cookout Matters 1 46
hour 47
4. Rise for Education 50 minutes 48
5. SOYA 2014 20 minutes 49
6. USC 4 30 minutes 50
7. RPHER discussion 1 51
hour 52
8. Stand on STS 1 53
hour 54
9. Additional Committees 15 minutes 55
10. OM 30 minutes 56
- Disposal Committee 57
- RAFI Invitation 58
- AYLC 59
- Integrity Forum 60
- Wifi Report 61
62
Councilor Dingding proposed that the RPHER discussion be transferred 63
before STS Stand making to make sure that the other councilors who will be 64
catching up can join the meeting. Vice Chairperson Degamo and Representative 65
Libres added the assignment of additional committees and letter of invitations in 66
the agenda, respectively. 67
68
Councilor Calderon proposed that there has to be a time cap in each of the 69
items to be discussed. Then, Vice Chairperson Degamo assigned estimated time 70
caps to each of the items. (Please refer to the agenda for the summary of the 71
time cap assignments.) 72
73
Representative Gattoc moved to approve the order of the agenda of the 74
meeting with proposed amendments and was duly seconded by Councilor 75
Calderon. 76
77
B. ORDER OF BUSINESS 78
79
1. BUSINESS ARISING 80
a. Reading of the minutes of 11
th
SC Meeting 81
82
Councilor Trocio, the acting Secretary General of the 10
th
83
official meeting, presented the minutes she wrote. Vice 84
Chairperson suggested that the summary of the STFAP 85
Discussion by Councilor Dingding should be moved to the 86
appendix. 87
88
Councilor Dingding moved to approve the minutes of the 10
th
89
official meeting with the proposed amendments. The motion 90
was seconded by Representative Gattoc. 91
92
2. STS 93
a. APPEALS 94
95
Last July 7, Councilor Dingding attended the appeals 96
committee meeting to entertain the STS appeals submitted by 97
incoming freshmen students. As the student representative in 98
the committee, he asserted that all of the appeals should be 99
granted. However, out of 13 appeals, only 12 were granted. 100
101
Additionally, Councilor Dingding said that the council is 102
deliberating the appeals subjectively. He reported one case 103
wherein it was so easy for OSA to investigate on a students 104
case since the students sister happens to be a UP Cebu 105
student before; so, it was easy for them to contact his family. 106
107
Vice Chairperson Degamo asserted that this but a very 108
subjective system of entertaining students appeals. There has 109
to be an equal treatment to all students especially to those who 110
are applying for an appeal. 111
112
Also, during the meeting, Councilor Dingding said that 113
Associated Dean for Academic Affairs Almocera said that the 114
appeals committee should take the word of the students written 115
appeals. 116
117
Councilor Dingding said that the council should urge 118
students to appeal because the initial bracket assignments were 119
only based from the AI (Artificial Intelligence)s assessment. 120
121
The committee also talked about the approval of Student 122
Assistants slots for the incoming semester. 123
124
Representative Gattoc said that on July 22, the OSR and 125
KSUP will be conducting a system-wide protest action for the 126
release of STS appeals. The SC is highly encouraged to 127
conduct an activity along with the scheduled activity. 128
129
b. Survey 130
Councilor Trocio reported that only 315 students 131
answered the STS survey through the google form. Majority of 132
the people who answered are batch 2013. She also pointed out 133
that it will be a challenge to the batch reps to distribute the 134
survey. Batch 2011 has the least number of respondents. 135
136
She also reported an initial results of the survey: lesser 137
students are assigned to full discount with stipend. From the last 138
years 15, only 8 are now assigned to the said bracket. 139
140
Also, majority of the respondents were ranting about their 141
STS results according to the survey. Councilor Dingding said 142
that those who answered they were satisfied with their 143
brackets said so because a.) They can afford the tuition and b) 144
they can afford but given the chance, they would still opt to have 145
for a lower bracket. 146
147
Those who answered dissatisfied with their brackets 148
stated the following reasons: a) even if they have large incomes, 149
they will still opt to loan because the tuition is too heavy to pay, 150
b) bracket sliding, c) they did not apply for STS. Additionally, 19 151
students did not apply because they a) are UP Faculty 152
dependents, b) did not apply for STS because they will still be 153
assigned to bracket A. 154
155
c. Campaign 156
Councilor Dingding said that the council shall be posting 157
another #KwentongSTS. 158
159
160
3. Rise for Education 161
162
As the SCs representative during the Rise for Education 163
alliance orientation, it was Representative Gattocs turn to discuss it 164
to the body. He said that the alliance is composed of individuals 165
and organizations who believe that education is a right and it has to 166
be affordable and accessible to all Filipino citizens. 167
168
During the said orientation, the alliance was formed with 10- 169
15 individuals and various organizations based within and outside 170
UP Cebu. 171
172
After the discussion, the floor was opened for 173
manifestations. Councilor Trocio said that the council should join 174
the alliance as it is aligned with the mandate of the Student Council 175
to the constituents and the Filipino people. 176
177
Councilor Calderon said that the alliance can be an aid in 178
protecting the students rights and welfare especially on issues of 179
campus repression, STS flawed implementation. 180
181
Councilor Dingding said that the issues that UP is facing is 182
not isolated to the intensifying crisis on the Philippines educational 183
system. Hence, it is but ample for the council to join the alliance to 184
be able to unite in a common point with other schools and 185
individuals. 186
187
Representative Libres also said that this is one way of 188
getting involved in the issues of the youth sector. 189
190
The body then decided in consensus that the council shall 191
forward its membership to the Rise for Education Alliance. Vice 192
Chairperson Degamo said that he will upload the orientation 193
powerpoint in the SC group for further reference. The council shall 194
be sending a representative to the first R4E meeting this July 11, 195
6pm at McDo JY. 196
197
4. Cookout Matters 198
This agendum is off the record. 199
200
5. SOYA 2014 201
202
Councilor Dingding said that the State of the Youth Address 203
is an activity for the youth to cast a verdict on President Aquinos 204
performance for 2013-2014. 205
206
In addition, the SC shall be holding a SONA Viewing on July 207
28. The Logistics Committee is assigned to reserve either AVR 2, 208
AS Lobby or ILC, whichever is available. The venue is expected to 209
be reserved by July 18. 210
211
Representatives Matarlo and Libres were tasked to write a 212
letter to Dean Corro to allow the UP faculties and workers to have a 213
half-day of work and the SBP students to attend after the pretest for 214
the SONA Viewing. The rationale of the activity and the program 215
should also be attached to the said letter. 216
217
The UP Political Science Society and the UP Workers and 218
Faculties Union will also be invited. 219
220
6. USC 4 and Counting 221
Four USC students are in threat for expulsion because of the 222
solidarity they have shown to the GSO Workers who conducted a 223
picket last May in front of the USC-TC campus. These students are 224
currently facing a case by the USC OSA because they were not on 225
the side of the USC administration. 226
227
Representative Libres said that it is imperative that the council 228
should release a statement of support because as UP students, we 229
fully understand how important it is to have freedom of expression. 230
231
Councilor Trocio said that regardless if they staged a protest or 232
they showed solidarity, it is their basic constitutional right and no 233
one, not even the Catholic Church or the USC Administration or its 234
priests, can bar them from doing so. Councilor Calderon said that 235
this is not isolated to human rights violation. 236
237
Representative Matarlo and Vice Chairperson Degamo 238
volunteered to make the statement. The call-to-actions drop the 239
case, uphold freedom of expression and no to campus repression 240
will be highlighted in the said statement. 241
242
243
Time check: 8:30 PM. Motion for recess for 30 minutes. 244
245
Meeting resumes at 9:11 PM. 246
247
7. RPHER Discussion 248
249
Councilor Trocio was assigned to discuss the Roadmap for 250
Public Higher Education Program, a flagship reform program of the 251
Aquino administration for public Higher Education Institutions 252
(HEIs). The discussion also aims to expose the mechanisms to 253
institutionalize the reform and its effects to public HEIs, such as the 254
Local and State Universities and Colleges. 255
256
Before proceeding to the discussion, Councilor Trocio asked 257
everyones points of expectation and their brief explanation on the 258
importance of SUCs. 259
260
EXPECTATIONS On SUCs
1. Degamo To gain new wisdom
since I have read the
full-text of RPHER; to
know its implications
of students who come
from different socio-
economic status
SUCs ask for very
cheap tuition, abot
kaya and maka-
masa
2. Dingding To know if RPHER is
the answer to the
rising cost of
education in the
country
SUCs is the hope of
those who cant
afford the high cost
of education
3. Calderon Grasp RPHER, its
significance and its
impact to the students
SUCs give
accessible education
to poor and
unfortunate students.
Also aids in building
the future for
countrys national
development
4. Trocio To grasp the principle
of RPHER; to whom is
it serving for; hopefully
an interactive
discussion; everyone
should be attentive
Students run to
SUCs when they can
no longer afford the
tuition of other
private schools
5. Libres To know what, what
for, and implication for
whom
SUCs cater quality
and accessible
education for the
poor
6. Meriz To know its gist; to
discuss advantages
and disadvantages; to
serve as foundation
for our stand
SUCs are subsidized
thus it makes
education accessible
7. Matarlo To be able to
recognize the problem
and find a solution to
address this problem
SUCs are for
students who can
afford cheap yet
quality education
8. Gattoc To be able to expose
the advantages and
disadvantages of the
policy
SUCs provide
education for all; it
makes education
democratic and
accessible; serve
poor yet deserving
students
9. Tidalgo To be able to
understand RPHER
and to have deeper
knowledge on the
policy
SUCs provide
opportunity that is
not only for those
who cant afford
education; provides
cheap and
accessible education
10. Mondido To be able to look into
the flaws of the policy
and to aid the council
in making an STS
stand
SUCs provide cheap
yet affordable
education
261
To view the full text of Councilor Trocios discussion, please 262
proceed to this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/233913179/A- 263
Discussion-on-the-Roadmap-for-Public-Higher-Education-Reform- 264
RPHER 265
266
After the discussion, councilors expressed their insights on 267
the discussion and the topic. 268
269
Representative Tidalgo said that she is agitated because the 270
RPHER is not serving the mandate of the government to provide 271
state subsidy for SUCs. 272
273
Councilor Dingding said that socialized tuition and financial 274
schemes are institutionalized by RPHER to reduce state subsidy by 275
passing the burden of rich students to pay for the poor students 276
education. 277
278
Representative Meriz expressed that RPHER is weird and 279
ironic. RPHER is manifesting itself as something that is for the 280
people, that it is efficient for the students and SUCs but in reality, it 281
is just for the benefit for the government by giving reasons to lessen 282
the budget for education. 283
284
Representative Gattoc said that RPHER is contrary to what 285
the council has been agreeing during the expectation-setting part of 286
the discussion. President Noys RPHER is giving the burden of 287
SUCs to find mechanism that would somehow cover up with the 288
insufficient budget given by the government. As a result, SUCs are 289
slowly sweeping away those who are in dire need of accessible 290
education. 291
292
Councilor Calderon said that we should look into the 293
misallocation of budget. The government is slowly lessening the 294
budget they allocate to the education sector which is their 295
responsibility. 296
297
Representative Libres expressed her disappointment to the 298
policy because it enables the government to abandon its role to 299
provide a life worth living. She said that education is a tool to get 300
out of the quagmire of poverty and that the government should re- 301
evaluate its priorities such as focus on social services, especially in 302
education. 303
304
8. Councils stand on STS 305
306
Vice Chairperson Degamo proposed that to be able to facilitate 307
the deliberation efficiently, the council should come up with points 308
of agreements on the following points: 309
a. STS as whether or not a manifestation of lack of budget; 310
b. STS as whether or not a manifestation of tuition and other 311
fees increase / income generating project; and 312
c. STS as whether or not a manifestation of state neglect. 313
314
Vice Chairperson Degamo said that the body should not only 315
discuss the principle of STS but also its implementation. 316
317
The body moved to approve on this proposal. Then, the body 318
opened the discussion for each items. 319
320
a. STS as lack of budget 321
322
Councilor Dingding: UP and other SUCs have been experiencing 323
budget cuts through the years. As for UP, we have discovered 324
during the RPHER discussion that there has been a deficit of 9 325
billion pesos from the UPs 18.1 billion pesos proposal. 326
327
Councilor Calderon: Only 2% GNP has been allocated to 328
education, yet according to UNESCO it has to allocate 6% to be 329
able to fully support the education sector. 330
331
Representative Gattoc: The implementation of STS is a mechanism 332
for the UP Administration to support itself from the lack of budget. 333
334
Councilor Trocio: The implementation of STS roots back to 1983 335
when UP no longer receives sufficient budget from the government 336
and as a result, the UP admin is forced to institutionalize tuition 337
schemes to partly pass the burden of making students, Iskolars ng 338
Bayan, to pay for their education. 339
340
Representative Libres: We actually have enough money but there 341
is misallocation. The government prioritizes debt-serving rather 342
than providing more budget to education. 343
344
Councilor Dingding moves that the council approve, in 345
consensus, that STS is a manifestation of state neglect. Motion was 346
seconded by Representative Gattoc. No objections were made. 347
348
b. STS as tuition and other fees increase / income generating 349
project (TOFI/IGP) 350
351
Representative Matarlo: Based on STS history, tuition rate has 352
increased across time. From P40/unit, nahimong P300/unit, then 353
P600/unit base tuition and with STS, P1000/unit base tuition. This 354
goes to show that the government is assuming that we can actually 355
generate income through STS. 356
357
Councilor Dingding: To add up to Rep. Matarlos point, STS serves 358
as a mechanism to cover up the holes in the budget allocation. 359
360
Representative Meriz: It is a wise move for the government to push 361
UP and other SUCs to become self-sufficient. Ilabay sa ka sa dagat 362
para makalearn ka how to swim 363
. 364
Councilor Dingding: President Pascual even admitted that STFAP, 365
now STS, is an income generating program. 366
367
Councilor Calderon: STS in principle is good. It creates equity 368
among students nga dato ug pobre. The problem is in its 369
implementation. 370
371
Vice Chairperson Degamo: Will correct implementation of STS get 372
away from the fact that STS is an income generating mechanism? 373
374
Councilor Calderon: We should first focus and make sure that we 375
get the right budget and subsidy to cover up UPs needs. 376
377
Councilor Trocio: According to RPHER, the socialized tuition fee 378
scheme (STFS) like STS is used as a mechanism for the state to 379
reduce state subsidy so that SUCs could generate own income to 380
make them self-sufficient. STS is the fault itself. 381
382
Representative Libres: STS is a source of social justice. It 383
highlights equitability over equality. STS can also serve as a free- 384
flowing money while there is enough state subsidy. 385
386
Vice Chairperson Degamo: issue on equitability, the fact mismo 387
nga wala pa nato nakuha education kay commodity. Ni exist ani 388
nga scheme tungod sa RPHER 389
390
Representative Gattoc moves that the council approve, in 391
consensus, that STS is IGP/TOFI. Motion was seconded by 392
Representative Matarlo. No objections were made. 393
394
395
396
c. STS as state neglect 397
398
Representative Mondido: Murag chalk, if muhatag og gamay og 399
chalk, luoy jud siya. Gipabayaan sa government. 400
401
Representative Gattoc: STS existence roots from RPHER. As per 402
discussion, we have seen that RPHER has been a tool for state 403
neglect. 404
405
Vice Chairperson Degamo: Accountability of the Aquino 406
administration to provide enough subsidy. 407
408
Councilor Trocio: Revisit RPHERs goal to reduce state subsidy 409
through NFF, STFS and idle assets. Likened the relationship of the 410
state and its people through mother-child relationship. 411
412
Representative Matarlo moves that the council approve, in 413
consensus, tas state neglect. Motion was seconded by 414
Representative Gattoc. No objections were made. 415
416
417
d. Flawed in principle and implementation 418
419
Representative Gattoc: Talking about discrimination, according to 420
SES, UP has the mandate as stated in the up charter to give 421
accessible tuition. Gitawag pa ba tang Iskolar ng Bayan if gi- 422
maintain ang STS? 423
424
Representative Libres moved to extend by 15 minutes. 425
426
Representative Mondido: We should urge government to provide 427
sufficient budget; there is lack of transparency. 428
429
Representative Libres: In principle, a socialized tuition 430
scheme/system is bounded by the concept/principle of Social 431
Justice. The STS that we have now is a flawed system. We should 432
push for Pro-Student reforms. A system that is Pro-Student that will 433
allow poor students to be enrolled in UP for free and get stipend 434
(financial help/material support) and to have students who can 435
afford to pay lower--a genuine socialized tuition system. 436
437
Vice Chairperson Degamo: Given if STS has zero percent flaws, 438
what incentive does that State has to provide SUCs state subsidy if 439
the STS itself is used as a mechanism to reduce state subsidy? 440
441
Councilor Calderon: We should look on the goal of STS. It hopes to 442
help students who cannot afford paying even 0 for their tuition. We 443
should look on the implementation nga dapat sakto siya pagka 444
implement para atong ma make sure nga walay masayop ug assign 445
ug bracket. STS is also beneficial to the students kay daghan ang 446
nag agad sa Free tuition nga mahatag sa STS. 447
448
Councilor Dingding: We are consensus with 3 indicators, which 449
STS exists to cover up the holes of the system. It goes beyond its 450
implementation. If there is sufficient budget, then wa nay reason 451
para mo-exist ang STS. 452
453
Representative Libres moved to extend by 15 minutes. 454
455
Representative Matarlo: The fact nga naay mag loan nga 456
nagpamatuod nga di kaya sa students. Di man siya para sa mga 457
students nga naa pa sa UP kung kinsa pa ang pwede makasulod 458
sa UP. Madato or mapobre, katungod jud ang education. 459
460
Vice Chairperson Degamo: Every Iskolar ng Bayan, once they 461
enter the univ of the people, they are assumed rich until they prove 462
to the administration to be poor 463
464
Representative Gattoc: Agrees with Representative Matarlo. Mas 465
daghan ang students nga makasulod sa UP if naay sufficient 466
subsidy. 467
468
Vice Chairperson Degamo: The top three reasons why UPCAT 469
passers don't continue to UP is because eof high tuition and the 470
STFAP/STS. That is why we have a high no-show rate. 471
472
Councilor Calderon: I believe in social justice. If enough na ang 473
budget sa education, then dili na necessary nga ipasa ang burden 474
sa students. In short, mulessen ang tuition sa tanan. Ang goal sa 475
STS is to help those students who can't afford the daily expenses 476
sa eskwelahan. Imagine nga parehas ra lagi tag gibayran ug tuition 477
pero di man makaya sa uban ang cost of living kaysa sa uban. 478
479
Representative Gattoc: Where is social justice when STS 480
discriminates the students in their paying capability? Where is 481
social justice when STS bars students to entering in UP? Where is 482
social justice when STS deprives us to our right to education? 483
484
Vice Chairperson Degamo: Ang continuing existence sa 12 pesos 485
per unit sa PUP is due to the presence or absence of a socialized 486
tuition scheme? Even if naay proposal to increase 830% increase 487
sa tuition, students were united to opposed such move. Thus, the 488
government is compelled to provide state subsidy to PUP. 489
490
Representative Gattoc moves that the council approve, in 491
consensus, that STS is flawed in implementation and principle. 492
Motion was seconded by Councilor Trocio. Objection by Councilor 493
Calderon. 494
495
Councilor Trocio: Fight for STS is more than just how we see it as 496
our political parties agenda. 497
498
Which is much greater, katungod sa education or social justice? 499
500
Councilor Calderon: Katungod sa education. 501
502
The Student Council stand on STS: 503
Fight for greater state subsidy. 504
No tuition and other fees increase. 505
Yes to a transparent and accountable government 506
No to state abandonment. 507
Junk STS, rollback the tuition. 508
509
Since its already late, Councilor Trocio moved to lay the remaining 510
items on the table. Vice Chairperson Degamo said he will attend the 511
Disposal Committee meeting. Councilor Dingding was tasked to make the 512
councils statement on STS. 513
514
C. ADJOURNMENT OF THE MEETING 515
516
Having the remaining items laid on the table, Vice Chairperson Degamo 517
moved to adjourn the meeting. Motion was approved by Councilor Dingding and 518
seconded by Representative Libres. The meeting was adjourned at 1:00 AM, 519
July 10, 2014. 520
521
522
523
524
525
526
Prepared by: 527
528
ANGEL ROSE C. TROCIO 529
Councilor 530
Acting Secretary General 531