A Call to Respond... Demand for the Truth

(Primer of the 27th USC Manila on the recent Gloriagate Allegations, as per USC Res. No. 0506-003.)

In the status quo, our country is faced with a looming POLITICAL CRISIS, brought about by the back to back allegations on jueteng operations and electoral fraud, thrown at Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

- Pres. GMA, FG Mike Arroyo, Reps. Mikey and Iggy Arroyo were accused of being involved in jueteng operations in the country based on the testimonies of Wilfredo Mayor and Sandra Cam
- Pres. GMA and COMELEC Comm. Garcillano were allegedly involved in electoral fraud during the 2004 elections; their conversations during that time were taped by former NBI deputy director, Atty. Samuel Ong and ISAFP T/Sgt. Vidal Doble.
- Pres. GMA is not denying the allegations; neither is she acknowledging that she was really involved
- The Senate and House of Representatives are waiting for PGMA to respond on whether or not she was the one on the tape
- right now, new revelations are coming out which further involves Pres. GMA in these scandals

In this regard, the University Student Council of UP Manila calls on the students of UP Manila to RESPOND to this critical issue by participating in consultations and forums being conducted by your respective college student councils. With these efforts, the student body of UP Manila can proudly consolidate a stand, which is a genuine product of democratic student consultation.

As students of the country’s premier state university, our voices, our opinions really count. But the buck should not stop there. “With great power comes great responsibility” (advice of Uncle Ben to Peter Parker, “Spiderman”). As Iskolars ng Bayan, not only should we make a statement we should let ourselves be heard. That is why the USC Manila challenges the UP Manila students, let us exercise our critical thinking minds, get ourselves involved and fulfill our responsibility to the Filipino people, especially during this time of crisis.





The USC Manila would also like to take this opportunity to DEMAND from our nation’s leaders, THE TRUTH behind these controversies that are crippling our nation through political instability. By answering the allegations thrown at her, Pres. GMA does not necessarily dignify these claims. Instead, if proven that this is all a hoax, she dignifies herself as our nation’s president, showing to us that she has been worthy of that position since 2001. With her silence, the country’s future is also silenced or in other words, silently assassinated.

If Pres. GMA is that stubborn and decides to continue keeping silent, then let us show her that we shall not take this sitting down and not emulate her by being silent as well. Let us demand for our right to be enlightened by the truth.

Consequently, the USC Manila presents to you some of the insights on this matter and ideas that we can consider as we demand for political stability; for this flyer is not only a wake up call but more so, an accessory to the information drive initiated by the USC.

- First, we can have Pres. GMA impeached because it is the only legal mechanism that would determine or prove that Pres. GMA is guilty or not. Easy way out. However, we must realize that in order to impeach her, the initiative has to come from the House of Representatives and the decision comes from the Senate. How can we impeach her if majority of both legislative assemblies are in support of Pres. GMA? Even if the tides turn and Pres. GMA is proven guilty and impeached, Is Noli de Castro worthy of ascendancy?

- Second, we can have snap elections. Easier way out. However, we must realize that nothing significant will happen to the country because the same old faces, the same old traditional politicians will participate in the snap elections. Will this effect change as was the case in 1986?

- Easiest way out: let’s just stick with Pres. GMA and let everything unfold on its own. Since the validity and credibility of the jueteng accusations and the Gloriagate tapes has not yet been proven, so why give attention to it. Heller?!, UP student ka ba?

However, in a wider perspective, we must realize that the question on whether we should or should not take Pres. GMA out of office is not only about jueteng pay-offs and electoral fraud. We must consider primarily the performance of the President in addressing the people’s issues and in fulfilling her promises during her State of the Nation Addresses. What we then need is a drastic change to reform the government in order to finally deal with the concerns of our nation: political stability, economic competitiveness, educational reform, land reform, employment, etc.

PEOPLE’S ISSUES

- E-VAT: 12%, more burden for the people
- budget for debt servicing is 2/3 of the total budget
- activist killings: from January to April 2005, 34 have been killed
- journalist killings: more than 68 have been killed (as of June 18, 2005)
- oil prices, fares and basic commodities’ prices are going up while the standard of living is going down due to unemployment and low wages.

EDUCATIONAL SITUATION

- highest budget cut of UP in its history: a low of P69.9M to a high of P357M (who cares?! Meron pa rin!)
- pending tuition fee increases, laboratory fee increases, exorbitant fees (late reg fee, LOA fee, TCG, etc.)
- degraded facilities, unfinished constructions (e.g. CAMP building)
- State Colleges and Universities experience the same issues as that of UP

On this progressive perspective, some ideas come into the picture:

- Engage in People Power, force Pres. GMA to resign and instead of going with the usual flow of governance, create a coalition government, composed of the different democratic sectors that participated in the People Power: United Opposition, workers, the Church, women, youth, etc. External forces are giving the coalition government one year to restructure the government and espouse changes in our society that would supposedly alleviate the people’s standard of living. When all the necessary reforms have been instituted, we can have snap elections.

- Have Pres. GMA resign and let’s form a transitional government, composed of different democratic sectors involved in the People Power but give priority to the sectoral and interest groups, including the CPP-NDF, Bangsamoro community, etc. Everyone in the transitional government will have equal voting powers. The key word here is “transitional” because this government is just temporary. It shall initiate a constitutional convention, members of which may be nominated by the transitional government. Upon review of the Philippine Constitution, they shall amend or take away anti-people provisions in the Charter. When it has been ratified, then we go back to the mainstream as determined by the new constitution. The new government to be formed may either be parliamentary, federal, still presidential or whatever form of government has been decided on in the convention.

All of the ideas that we have pointed out and presented are there to enlighten and open the minds of UP Manila students on what alternatives or responses we can take. During consultations and discussions, we may not all agree on certain ideas but one thing is for sure, we must all be united in our DEMAND for the TRUTH and our collective RESPONSE must be HEARD.

- UP Manila University Student Council AY 2005-2006
uscmanila@gmail.com