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UP
Medicine Student Council 2/F Bobby
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We are for a new and responsive UP Charter, and we want it now! News Archive Guestbook |
MSC News Archive
(Most Recent on Top) Page 1 | 2 Congressional Journals: How Congress has been handling the UP Charter Dela Paz Hall, UPCM - Changing Act No. 1870 (the
University Charter of the University of the Philippines) has been the subject
of in-depth arguments for or against a multitude of issues contained in the
proposals. Of interest also to the UP constituent might be the circumstances
of the passage of House Bill (HB) 455 of the defunct 12th Congress
– that bill entitled “An Act to Strengthen the University of the Philippines
as the National University” – in
relation to renewed campaigns in this 13th Congress dealing
with the UP Charter Change. On the
afternoon of July 24, 2001, HB 455 by then Rep. Eduardo Nachura was taken up
on first reading by the House in plenary session presided over by Speaker
Jose De Venecia. It was referred by the Chair to the Committee on Higher and
Technical Education. That same
Committee submitted a year later on November 19, 2002 Committee Report No.
763 concerning HB 455. Reps. Antonio Eduardo B. Nachura, Aniceto G. Saludo,
Harlin Cast. Abayon, and Rolex T. Suplico then delivered their sponsorship
speeches on the floor. There
were no interpellations and speeches en contra. Rep. Fuentebella,
after some more procedural matters, then moved to approve on second reading
HB 455. No one objected, and the motion was carried. One month
later on December 11, 2002, Rep. De Guzman moved that HB 455 be approved on
third reading. The Chair directed the Secretary General to call the Roll for
nominal voting, which meant that each Representative’s vote would be duly
acknowledged. There
were one hundred and thirty two (132) Congressmen and women who voted in
favor, zero (0) against, and zero (0) in abstention. Senate
Bill (SB) 2587, the equivalent measure of HB 455 in the upper house, was not
passed due solely to inaction by the Senate of the 12th Congress.
No voting took place; hence, no one can claim that SB 2587 was junked due to
opposition. Recently
in the 13th Congress, several bills have already been filed
regarding the UP Charter Change. We have HBs 597, 880, and 1587 all drawing
from the words of the archived HB 455, authored by Reps. Escudero, Ablan, and
Zialcita, respectively. They have all been called on first reading and are
now pending with the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education. We also
have an alternative bill (HB 2327) that has provisions that oppose equivalent
words in the archived HB 455, specifically replacing the Board of Regents
(BOR) and preventing “profiteering activities”. It is authored by Reps.
Casiño, Maza, Ocampo, and Virador of the Party List Bayan Muna, and Beltran
and Mariano of the Party List Anakpawis. In the
Senate, Sen. Pangilinan already filed SB 1399, drawing from the words of the
archived SB 2587. While
some of these lawmakers are newly-elected, the old-timers all participated in
the UP Charter debates of the 12th Congress. In fact, when HB 455
was called for approval on third reading, all of them (except Escudero and
Zialcita who did not cast any vote – yes, no, or abstain – on the matter)
voted in favor. Records will show that Reps. Ablan of Ilocos Norte, Beltran
of Anakpawis, and Maza and Ocampo of Bayan Muna are part of the 132 who said
“Yea” in favor of HB 455. The above
narratives of the events that have been taking place in the House of
Representatives are given to illustrate and underscore that the legislative
process, while slow and tedious, has several opportunities for a bill to be
amended or outright opposed. (UP-MSC
STRAWBS, 22 August 2004) *** Bayan Muna, Anakpawis PL Reps file HB
2327 Re-Orienting the UP Charter Dela Paz Hall, UPCM - Last May 2004, the UP Wide Democratization Movement (WIDEM) II
proposed a bill that would revise the 1908 UP Charter in ways different from
those proposed by the archived and now re-filed HB 455 and SB 2587. Recently,
their espoused reforms were taken up and sponsored by Representatives from
the party lists Bayan Muna and Anakpawis. House
Bill No. 2327 entitled “An Act Reorienting the Charter of the University of
the Philippines as the Premier State University” was recently filed by Reps.
Teodoro A. Casiño, Liza L. Maza, Satur C. Ocampo, Joel G. Virador (PL-Bayan
Muna), and Crispin B. Beltran and Rafael V. Mariano (PL-Anakpawis). In their
explanatory note prefacing the filed bill, the PL Reps asserted that “the
original [UP] charter was designed to make UP an efficient institution for
disseminating American values and ideals in the Islands.” They added, “As
such, it followed a hierarchical structure in a Board of Regents (BOR),
including the university president, who were all appointed by the American
Governor-General.” It was
proposed by the PL Reps that the governance structure of a new UP charter be
made “transparent, democratic, and participative with respect to the
university’s key constituencies.” They posited in this regard “an elected UP
System Assembly as the highest governing body replacing the BOR.” Furthermore,
the PL Reps said that their bill aims to “protect the University from the
threat of commercialization and privatization.” They cited section 3 of HB
2327 saying that the State “shall fully support the needs of the University”
and section 5 wherein “the University shall be prohibited from engaging in
‘profiteering activities’ that undermine its purpose.” In a
related development, UP System Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA)
Maria Serena I. Diokno reacted that “two things disturb me about the
proposal.” She elaborated that “the first is that the bill does away with the
University’s accountability to a larger public,” and “second, while the
proposal recognizes that academic bodies should consist of the faculty, the
bill would nevertheless submit these bodies to higher decision makers
dominated by students and non-academic constituents of the university.” “Yet
ironically, the bill asserts the primacy of the University’s function as a
learning institution,” she added. Diokno
explained that “The proposed charter bill sees the university as essentially
and primarily a polity rather than an academic community… The very purpose of
the university, to learn, create and spread knowledge, takes a back seat to
the everyday needs of any polity: employment, staff benefits, and so on. Given
a choice about where to spend our resources, the polity would impose demands
different from the priorities of an institution of higher learning.” The UP
Medicine Student Council (UP MSC), through its UP Charter Change OIC Albert
Francis E. Domingo, reserved its comments on the said bill pending
consultation with its constituents, saying that the bill is a welcome
development. Domingo said that “we have always believed that the input of
ideas regarding the UP Charter should be done in the proper forum - Congress.” (UP-MSC
STRAWBS, 19 August 2004) *** Kiko Files SB 1399 in Senate; Proposed UP Charter of 2004 Echoed in
UPM-PA UP-PGH
– Shortly after
the House filed HB 1587 proposing amendments to the UP Charter, here comes a
supportive move in the Senate: Kiko Pangilinan filing SB 1399. Groundwork for
the Congressional pathway towards the passage of a law has been laid for the
UP Charter Change. In the 4th
meeting of the UPM Pamantasang Asamblea (PA) presided over by Dr. Jesus Sarol
last Thursday, July 29 at the UP Manila Social Hall,
constituent-representatives from the different units of UP Manila were able
to hear issues ranging from internal concerns on mustering a quorum for the
PA to national issues such as the resounding UP Charter Change movement. Notable
in relation to the latter topic was the official announcement made by the UP
Medicine Student Council (UP-MSC) delegation to the affair, heralding the
filing of HB 1587 and later on SB 1399, the two bills in Congress seeking to
amend the UP Charter. Speaking
as observers from the student body, UP-MSC Chairperson Joseph Anthony D.
Lachica and Strawbs Committee Co-Head Albert Francis E. Domingo took turns
engaging the assembly in an exercise of free speech, following the
presentation of a PA member regarding the proposed UP Charter of the UP
WIDEM-II. The said presentation highlighted proposals such as replacing the
UP Board of Regents (BOR) with a UP System Assembly similar to the PA,
composed of delegates from the different autonomous units of the University. Lachica
and Domingo reiterated that the move of the UP-MSC to re-file the archived UP
Charter bills of the 12th Congress are meant to initiate the
legislative process, even as consultations have been underway in the UP
System. Lachica also disputed insinuations in the assembly that the medical
students acted impulsively, saying that the UP-MSC analyzed and thought of
their decision and afforded due process long before they resolved to re-file
the bills. Attending
the PA with UP-MSC Vice-Chair Roselyn Mateo and CM Rep to the USC Benjo
Delarmente, the two observed that Congress is the appropriate body to
adjudicate and consult on the best possible changes in the UP Charter,
because UP itself is a State University and it was Congress’ equivalent (then
the First Philippine Legislature) in 1908 that historically established UP.
“Members of Congress are direct representatives of the Filipino people, by
virtue of their election into office,” said Domingo. “Let’s work within the
system that we have today,” he added. As of
Press time, the PA’s minutes of the meeting have not yet been completed.
Observable were the frustrations of Sarol and the other members of the PA
because they have been holding meetings usually without a quorum, with the
98-member assembly always encountering difficulty in solving the problem. At
one time wherein the PA was able to achieve a quorum with 51 members in
attendance, 33 voted for a statement junking HB 455/SB 2587 of the 12th
Congress while 18 dissented. Sarol noted that the decision could always be
questioned, because the 47 other members who were not able to vote could have
still influenced the outcome. He also said that agreement or dissent to the
statement-proposition junking HB 455/SB 2587 could be interpreted in many
ways. (UP-MSC
STRAWBS, 31 July 2004) *** HB 1587 – University of the Philippines Charter of 2004 has been filed in the House of Representatives Dela
Paz Hall, UPCM –
On the 18th of June 1908 the First Philippine Legislature under
the United States enacted Act No. 1870 – The University Charter, the piece of
legislation that has guided the University of the Philippines (UP) up to this
day. Ninety-six years later on the 18th of June 2004, the Student
Government of UP’s first ever College – Medicine – passed their own
resolution calling for UP Charter amendments. And that’s exactly what they
could get. Rep.
Eduardo C. Zialcita, upon request by the UP Medicine Student Council (UP
MSC), filed with the 13th Congress last July 22, 2004 House Bill
No. 1587 entitled “An Act to Strengthen the University of the Philippines as
the National University”. It is also known as “The UP Charter of 2004”. Zialcita
– who himself is an alumnus of UP Diliman – decided to proceed with the
measure picking up from where the UP Community left off in its desire to have
SB 2587 passed in the 12th Congress. The lawmaker from Parañaque
City observed that HB 455 (SB 2587’s equivalent in the lower house) was
approved on third reading with 132 Yeas and not a single Nay nor Abstention
from house members. He also
listened to the pleas from the medical students for greater State Subsidy and
participation for UP, which the future doctors noted is badly needed as far
as the Philippine General Hospital is concerned. In analyzing the defunct HB
455 and SB 2587, Zialcita noted that there are provisions that, upon
democratic consultation with UP constituents in the days to come, could
translate to financial flexibility that would allow the University to receive
financial aid from the State not only in cash but also in kind. The UP
MSC maintains that the move they made is in line with strategy directed at
expediting the legislative process. While it does not necessarily mean that
H.B. 1587 would be passed into law as it currently is, the medical students
sought the filing of the established measure to initiate Congressional action
wherein UP constituents from all sectors could air their concerns either for
or against the bill. “It is,
after all, the general consensus of the UP Community that something needs to
be done about the alarmingly obsolete 1908 U.P. Charter, and that something
has to be done now,” said Albert Francis E. Domingo, the UP-MSC’s OIC for the
matter. (UP-MSC
STRAWBS, 23 July 2004) *** Medicine Student
Council: Amend the UP Charter Dela
Paz Hall, UPCM -
The UP Medicine Student Council (UP-MSC), AY 2004-2005 released last 21 June
2004 its resolution numbered 0405-001, "supporting and calling for the
re-filing in the 13th Congress of House Bill No. 455 and Senate Bill No.
2587". It may be
recalled that the 12th Congress adjourned its third and final session without
acting on SB 2587, effectively archiving the said measure and returning UP's
hopes for a new charter to square one. House
Bill 455, however, was approved with 132 Yeas, 0 Nays, and 0 Abstains. Still,
that is not enough as the equivalent Senate Bill has to be passed alongside
the House version for the measure to possibly become a law. Fierce
student opposition was alleged to be the reason for SB 2587's blockage,
though political analysts and congressional experts aver that it was then
Sen. John Osmeña's delaying tactics, motivated by a personal grudge against
UP President Nemenzo and not related to student opposition, that caused the
failure of the bill's passage. Consultations
are now on-going among different UP units for a new UP Charter. For the
UP-MSC's part, re-filing HB 455 and SB 2587 is a strategic move to start the
legislative process. They emphasized that other versions may be filed
alongside HB 455 and SB 2587, and in the long run, they will be consolidated. (UP-MSC
STRAWBS, 15 July 2004)
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