Censorship: You’re Doing It Right

The ‘traditional’ or ‘conservative’ student political party in the University of the Philippines-Diliman Campus released a video last December 31 which purportedly shows its achievements. As the video slowly scored views, it also began to accumulate ‘dis-likes’ and comments which dismiss the video as ‘early electioneering’, and the party’s principles in general.

And when the views, comments, and dislikes began to ‘spike’ in the last 24 hours, whoever was managing the party’s official YouTube account went on ‘red alert’:

1. They deleted all the comments.

2. They moderated the comment section. Meaning, all future comments will have to be approved by them.

3. But the dis-likes kept coming.

4. They ‘hid’ the part which shows how many likes and dislikes the video received.

5. But we could still see the likes and dislikes by clicking a buton.

6. So they disabled the feature allowing ‘likes’ and ‘dislikes’.

Steps 1-6 happened in the span of less than 30 minutes.

But thankfully, we remembered to take screenshots of the top comments, at least. R.I.P Truth. You will be sorely missed by the conservative party.

This incident comes at the heels of another event in which the Diliman conservative party (and its equivalents in other UP campuses) accused the UP Student Regent of, GUESS WHAT, Internet censorship. They even went as far as to compare the student leader with the infamous ‘Great (Fire) Wall of China’.

(From the fanpage of Bigkis-UP Manila)

The saying Kapag nagturo ka ng isang daliri, apat ang magtuturo pabalik sayo holds true today.

And this is not the first time this party has committed censorship.

During the 2011 student council elections in UP Diliman, the conservative party included in its General Plan of Action (GPOA) a proposal to ‘restructure’ independent student alliances such as Youth for Earth, Salinlahi (composed of provincial and regional organizations in Diliman), and UNA (Ugnayan ng Nagkakaisang Artista). If you will look for the post where the comments below were posted, you will not find it anywhere in the party’s Facebook page. In other words: OMG! They deleted an entire Note. It’s that bad.

And ask any Diliman student you know that belongs to the ‘militant’ party. I will be willing to treat you to a free lunch if you find any such student who hasn’t been banned from the conservative party’s Facebook page. The latter clear do not entertain any exchange in which they cannot ensure that they will come out as the good guys.

What makes this incident really ridiculous  is the fact that ‘Internet censorship’ goes against some of the principles which the conservative party purportedly advocates.

So does this mean that YouTube and Facebook users are not ‘people’, and hence, not deserving of “the people’s sovereign right to information”? Or does the “Freedom of Information” apply only to the government, and not to this party?

Tsktsk.

President Aquino’s biggest accomplishment for 2011

According to President Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III, “his biggest accomplishment for 2011 has to do with giving back to Filipinos the mindset that there is hope for the country, and that change is possible” (Phil. News Agency, 2011). Indeed, under his rule in 2011, many Filipinos have again begun to believe that change is possible. But not in the way Aquino and his Communications Group envisioned…

My skeptical friends will ask me “Proof?”

There is plenty.

Under his rule, the farmers of Hacienda Luisita felt that there is hope in finally reclaiming the land which was stolen from them decades ago. Not due to Aquino’s foot-dragging, or the sham land reform program known as CARPER, but because the farmers themselves have occupied parts of the Hacienda and planted it with rice and vegetables.

Under his rule, national minorities, farmers, fisherfolk, and other victims of environmental destruction of foreign mining corporations, have felt that there is hope that the rape of the earth will stop. Not due to Aquino’s pro-large scale mining policy, or the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources which acts as a spokesperson of foreign mining corporations, but because the New People’s Army recently blasted some of the biggest mines in Northern Mindanao last September.

Under his rule, students and other youths have felt that there is hope that they will have a brighter future. Not due to Aquino’s budget cuts to education and other social services, his job-generation policy which focuses on having more of us work abroad, or his economic policy of cutting down on workers’ rights to encourage foreign investors. But because they begun to realize that they can shut down entire schools, roads, and bring the entire nation to a halt should they wish to.

Under his rule, the Filipino people are realizing that change is possible. Not because of whatever Noynoy has done and or is about to do, but because of what they see and hear from other shores: of U.S-backed dictators being ousted in Tunisia and Egypt, of Occupy Wall Street spreading from New York to everywhere else, of students and workers holding general strikes in Europe, of hundreds of thousands of people revolting and taking up arms in India and Turkey.

Yes, President Aquino. Under you, your inutile, callous, pro-landlord, pro-elite, pro-foreign corporation leadership, we have realized that change is possible: not under you, nor any of your kind. But when the 99% of the Filipino people finally rise up and take the power from your kind.

New Year’s Revolution

What is the New Year’s Revolution?

Every New Year is full of joy and hope: joy as we let go of the previous year’s sadness and disappointments, and hope that the next year will be better. This is especially true in our country where have faced disappointment after disappointment all year long.

Every year, we make New Year’s Resolutions. New Year’s Revolution is one step further: we tell the world the change that we want, and we tell the world what we do we do to get to that goal. Inside all of us are the seeds of a real Revolution. Together, it can become reality.

Starting now, we can express our New Year’s Revolutions by:

1. Liking ‘New Year’s Revolution’ on Facebook

2. Make an FB status update about ‘New Year’s Revolution’

2.1 Type @New Year’s Revolution in your status, and select ‘New Year’s Revolution’

2.2 Type “My” before ‘New Year’s Revolution’, and then whatever change you want

3. Tweet about the change you want, using #NewYearsRevolution

4. Blog about the change you want and use the tag New Year’s Revolution

We can’t blame people if they feel hopeless about our country, our world today. But hopefully, we can inspire each other into action. Working together, we are the Revolution.

Para kay IP address 203.82.38.164

Nag-comment ka sa nakaraan kong blog entry. Sinabi mo na puro nalang kami reklamo at bakit di ko sabihin ang dapat gawin. Bagama’t ang IP address mo ay malapit sa isang military base sa Cavite, iisipin ko nalang na hindi ka sundalo at sasagutin ko ang tanong mo para mamulat ka.

Ano ba ang dapat gawin para umunlad ang kalagayan ng karamihan ng Pilipino? May tatlong mayor, pero hindi ang tanging mayor, at kagyat na bagay:

1. Lupa para sa mga magsasaka

Mayorya ng mga Pilipino ay magsasaka, problema ng mayorya ng magsasaka ay ang kawalan ng sariling lipunang binubungkal. Ang paglutas sa problema sa lupa ay paglutas sa problema ng karamiha ng Pilipino. Sa pagkakaroo ng mas mataas na kita ng maraming Pilipino, matutulungan rin na ‘di malugi ang mga lokal na industriya natin.

Bukod sa bibigyan ng hanapbuhay ang mayorya ng mga Pilipino, mapapanigurado nito ang seguridad sa pagkain ng ating bansa. Imbes na naka-konsentra sa kamay ng mga dayuhan at exporters na nagtatanim ng tubo, saging, pinya, atbp., tatamnan ito ng palay, gulay, at iba pang mga kinakailangan nating pagkain.

Magagawa ito kung hihiwalay tayo sa nakaraang mga programa sa reporma sa lupa kung saan pinagbabayad ang mga magsasaka. Sa oras na magkaroon ng kalamidad o kahit kaunting problema lang sa pinansya, hindi makapagbabayad ang mga magsasaka at kukumpiskahin ang lupa nila. Kaya dapat libreng pamamahagi ng lupa sa mga magsasaka.

 

2. Isabansa ang mga mahalagang industriya, paunlarin ang mga lokal na industriya

Para mapaunlad ang mga lokal na industriya, makalikha ng maraming trabaho, at makontrol ang presyo ng mga bilihin, importante na isabansa ang mga mahahalagang industriya tulad ng langis, kuryente, at mga minahan.

Malaking dahilan kung bakit nalulugi ang mga lokal na business ay dahil sa napaka-mahal na singgil ng kuryente (pinaka-mahal sa buong Asya), presyo ng langis, hilaw na materyales, at iba pang gastusin. Kung hahawakan ito ng gobyerno, kaya nitong kontrolin ang mga presyo nito dahil masisilip nito paano ito dinadaya at pinapataas ng mga pribadong korporasyon.

Bukod sa paglilikha ng maraming trabaho, mawawakasan ang ating pagiging palaasa sa mga imported na produkto na nagmamahal rin dahil sa mga kadahilanang walang kinalaman sa ating bansa. Pati mga karaniwang mamimili makikinabang.

Sa ganitong paraan rin masisigurado na ang mga limitadong likas na yaman natin, tulad ng langis, natural gas, ginto, tanso, etc. ay magagamit para sa pang-matagalang pakinabang imbes na panandaliang kita ng mga dayuhan.

3. Pag-kansela sa utang na di-pinakikinabangan

Taon-taon, napakalaking bahagi ng kaban ng bayan ang napupunta sa pambayad sa mga utang ng gobyerno. Napupunta ito sa mga malalaking bangko, korporasyong pampinansya, at bilyonaryo. Marami naman sa mga ito ay hindi pinakikinabangan, tulad ng mga utang na kinurakot sa ng mga crony ng diktador na si Marcos. Kung tutuusin, panahon pa lang ng dating pangulong si Cory Aquino, ‘pinapayagan’ na tayo na huwag ng bayaran ang mga utang na ito.

Ang halaga na ito ay sapat para bigyan ng libre at dekalidad na edukasyon para sa lahat ng kabataan, paunlarin ang kalagayan ng agham at teknolohiya sa bansa (lalo na sa research & development), gawing abot-kaya ang lahat ng mga serbisyo sa ospital, bigyan ng murang pabahay ang mga walang tahanan, atbp.

4. Gobyerno na may kakayahang ipatupad ang mga nabanggit na reporma

Sa mga usapin ng ‘anong klaseng gobyerno?’ (hindi ‘sinong pangulo’) at ‘paano makakamit ang ganitong gobyerno?’, matagal ng may mga magandang mungkahi ang progresibong kilusan sa Pilipinas. Dito papasok ang kahalagahan ng paglahok sa ‘Occupy Mendiola’: dito natin mapaguusapan ang iba’t-ibang mungkahi, mapapalitaw kung alin talaga ang tama, makakapag-sanay ng isang ‘hukbo ng mga propagandista’, at mapapakalat ang mga ideyang ito sa buong bansa.

May limitasyon ang kaya kong isulat dito. Kung tunay ang iyong kagustuhan ng pagbabago, inaasahan kong makita ka sa ‘Occupy Mendiola’ sa susunod na ibalik ito.

Para sa Estudyante sa MiniStop sa Bustillos, Gabi ng Disyembre 8

Kauupo ko lang para sa unang kain ko sa buong araw. Pagod ang katawan ko dahil sa mga hampas ng batuta at truncheon, suntok at sipa, hambalos ng mabahong tubig, at pagtakbo mula Mendiola hanggang Sta. Mesa ng nakapaa. Pagod ang utak ko dahil sa takot, at dahil sa pag-aalala sa mga tulad kong kabataan na nasaktan.

Sabay pumasok ka kasama ang iyong mga kaibigan.

Narinig kitang pangisi na sabihin sa mga kasama mo ‘Wala namang ginagawa mga yan para umunlad ang buhay’. Sumagot ako ng ‘Kuya, hindi totoo yan’. Niyaya kitang makipag-diskusyon habang kumakain. Mabilis kang tumakbo palayo papunta sa iyong mga kaibigan at nag-takeout nalang. Sayang, gusto pa naman kitang paliwanagan. Kaya ko isusulat ito at sana’y makaabot sa iyo.

1. Walang kaginhawaan para sa mayorya ng Pilipino sa ilalim ng kasalukuyang sistema. Karaniwang isinisisi ang kahirapan sa pagiging tamad, sa kapalaran, kawalan ng diskarte, at iba pang mga factors (salik) na ang esensya ay ang indibidwal ang may kasalanan.

Pero gaano ba ito katotoo? Hindi ba marami sa mga mahihirap ay nagdodoble ng trabaho? Hindi ba marami ay may sideline, tulad ng mga guro na nagbebenta ng longganisa, o ng magsasakang kubrador ng jueteng? Hindi ba marami naman ang sumasabak sa pagiging entrepreneur subalit laging nalulugi dahil sa kawalan ng kapital o sa may kakumpetensyang murang import?

Basahin natin ang mga karanasan ng mga lumalahok sa Occupy Wall Street at iba pang katulad na okupasyon. Marami sa kanila ay mga estudyante nagtatrabaho para makapag-aral, mga manggagawang di sumasapat ang sweldo, mga nabaon sa utang dahil sa ospital, mga inagawan ng tahanan. Pare-pareho ang tema: masipag naman kami, pero bakit kami naghihirap?

2. Kinakailangan baguhin ang sistema. Nasa sistema mismo ang ugat ng kahirapan. Bakit katumbas ng yaman ng 25 na pinaka-mayamang Pilipino ang kinikita sa isang taon ng 54 milyong pinaka-mahirap na Pilipino? Bakit mas malaki ang lupaing hawak ng 9,400 na pinaka-mayamang landlord sa bansa kesa sa 3 milyong pinaka-mahirap na magsasaka? Bakit ang pamilya ni Pangulong Noynoy ay nagmamay-ari sa lupaing doble ang laki sa siyudad ng Makati?

Dulot ito ng sistema kung saan iilan lamang ang may kontrol sa yaman ng bansa. Nakapangalan sa mga kapitalista ang mga makina at pabrika. Kaya kahit dugo’t pawis ng manggagawa ang nagbubuo ng mga produkto, pagkatapos itong maibenta, maliit na porsyento lamang ang napupunta sa kanila. Sa planta nga ng Zesto Juice sa Valenzuela, ang sinasahod nila sa araw-araw ay katumbas lamang ng nililikha nilang mga produkto sa unang anim na minute nila sa trabaho.

At dahil hawak nila ang yaman, hawak nila ang kapangyarihan. Nagbubuo sila ng mga private army tulad ng mga Ampatuan at Cojuangco. Bumibili sila ng mga boto. Gumagastos ng bilyon-bilyon para sa mga komersyal sa TV, poster, polyeto, at iba pa. Minsan ay opisyal na mismo ng gobyerno ang binibili nila imbes na tumakbo sa eleksyon. At gamit ang kapangyarihan na ito, lalong pinatitibay ang kontrol nila sa yaman: hinaharangan ang dagdag-sahod, hinaharangan ang pamamahagi ng Hacienda Luisita, kinakasuhan ng rebelyon ang mga pumapalag na mahihirap.

3. Kinakailangan mamulat ang mamamayan para mabago nito ang sistema. Hindi posible ang pagbabago mula muna sa itaas. Walang pangulo sa ating bansa ang nagmula sa mga mahihirap. Walang senador. Isa sa kada benteng kongresista lamang. Ngayon, mismong pagbabanggit ng salitang ‘pagbabago’ay kinakasuhan na ng rebelyon ng gobyerno. Ang mapayapang kampuhan at pagtulog sa tulay na malapit sa Palasyo ay banta na daw sa seguridad.

Bagong gobyerno, bagong tipo ng sistemang panlipunan ang kinakailangan. At tulad sa karanasan ng ating mga ninuno, posible lamang ito kung kikilos tayo ng sama-sama: tulad ng Katipunan nung 1896, Sakdal sa Gitnang Luzon, mga Igorot at iba pang katutubo sa Kordilyera, mga Moro sa Mindanao, Hukbalahap nung 1940s, Kabataang Makabayan nung First Quarter Storm, pati sa EDSA.

Pero hindi kikilos ang kamay at paa kung ang puso’t isipan ay nakagapos. Biktima ang ating henerasyon ng deka-dekadang impluwensya ng telebisyon at diyaryo na hawak ng mga korporasyon, libro at paaralan na diniktahan ng gobyerno.

Kaya libo-libong Pilipino ang nagtangkang magtayo ng Kampuhan sa Mendiola. Kaya sila/kami humarap sa tiyak na kapahamakan. Kaya kami nagdadagdag sa tila ‘di matapos-tapos na serye ng mga protesta sa ating kasaysayan.

Dahil may mahirap. Dahil may nagpapahirap. Dahil hindi ito kapalaran. Dahil pwede itong baguhin

 

imjustsayin

Farmville

There are so many problems plaguing the livelihood of the millions of farmers and peasants in the countryside, which in turn affects the nation’s food supply, which in turn affects the millions of people in the urban areas and the rest of the nation.

 

There is an urgent need for engineers, biologists, chemists, biochemists, agriculturists, etc. in the countryside. Alternatives to increasingly expensive fertilizer and other agricultural inputs, pesticides and other toxic inputs that poison the land, solutions to the lack of access to water, lack of access to affordable farming equipment, etc., all require the attention of peoples’ scientists and technologists.

 

There is also an urgent need for social scientists, social and development workers, artists, etc. Problems beyond the soil contribute to the farmers being chained to poverty: a political system which prevents farmers and the poor in general from contributing, a culture which presents poverty as unchangeable and determined by fate, the enforced ignorance of the bigger social picture, etc.

 

In my several month stay here, one of the most laudable projects that I witnessed is the planting of ‘experimental plots’ of organic palay. These seek to demonstrate the benefits of planting rice without using chemical fertilizer and other inputs which were forced upon us by the IMF (International Monetary Fund), as well as to spread the various native types of rice which have almost been wiped because of the spread of ‘mutant’ types.

 

At the same time, it has been demonstrated that technological solutions which lack a social and political perspective will not work. Organic vegetable plots have helped augment some farmers’ incomes, but only to a limited extent. Their products, while good for the health, often lose out to competition from cheap vegetables and fruits dumped from abroad. Landless peasants find the practice impractical in their current situation.

 

In the countryside, there is no job shortage for scientists, technologists, social scientists, artists, etc. Or maybe ‘job’ is the wrong word. The office is not in some air-conditioned high-rise in Ayala or Ortigas, but in the wide expanses of muddy ricefields, decrepit barrios, and the isolation of the mountainsides. These are not high-paying, if at all, as many new graduates think they are entitled to. The wages will be felt more in the future: when a more just and humane society in our country is achieved, in part, by the efforts of the farmers and students which linked and continue to link arms.

Quality Education

(mula sa Evaluating the Cultural Revolution in China and its Legacy for the Future, 2007. Tutal, ‘quality education’ ang ginagamit ng Inquirer at ni Noynoy para ipagtanggol ang budget cuts, tignan natin ang isang magandang modelo ng tunay na ‘quality education’)

 

In the early 1960s, the political line of the revisionists in education served their program of strengthening the power of factory managers, technical experts and government officials to modernize the country. Building up a well-trained core of experts, regardless of their political outlook, took priority over developing the knowledge and skills of millions of workers and peasants. Important aspects of feudal and bourgeois systems of education were maintained, such as utilizing nationwide admission tests to determine who would go on to the next level of schooling, thereby excluding most workers’ and peasants’ children. Resources were concentrated on a few “key schools” to train the new urban elite. Education in the countryside was badly underfunded, and the few workers and peasants who received a higher education rarely returned to their communities.1 Students were driven to study for high marks in order to seek personal fame and high positions.

 

In contrast, the educational policies of the Cultural Revolution had the goal of producing graduates who were both “red and expert.” Students were expected to gain knowledge and skills that could be used to solve society’s pressing problems. A second goal was to make more educational opportunities available to working class and peasant children. Third, a system of mass education was developed so that primary or middle school graduates would continue their educations throughout their adult lives. The last and perhaps most important objective was to provide political education. During the Cultural Revolution, the understanding was that a student must first have the idea of serving the Chinese people. Then she or he would work hard to develop the ability to do so.

 

During the years of the Cultural Revolution there was a vast expansion of education in the countryside, where 80% of the people lived. Since primary education was already universal in the cities, the goal was to introduce at least five years of primary schooling in the rural areas. State education funds were redirected to the countryside, so that primary school enrollment in rural areas increased from 116 million to 150 million from 1966 to 1976. Educated local villagers were recruited as “barefoot teachers” to teach in new schools built by the villagers themselves. Middle school enrollment rose from 15 million to 58 million as new middle schools were built or added to primary schools. In many of these schools, representatives of peasants’ and workers’ associations entered the schools to provide educational leadership and practical advice to students and teachers.

 

Special efforts were made to develop the educational systems in the remote national minority areas, composing 6% of China’s population. Schools and teacher training institutes had to start almost from scratch in some areas in the 1950s. By the early 1970s, the vast majority of youth were in schools, where they studied their native languages, music, crafts and customs alongside a regular curriculum. At the same time, minority cultures were popularized among the 94% who are Han in schools, films and on TV shows in order to combat Han chauvinism.

 

During a trip in 1971 through China, the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars (CCAS) visited schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Xian. In a Beijing primary school, the younger children had five basic courses: politics, Chinese language, mathematics, sports, and art and culture. The students did not just recite lessons, but asked questions and attempted to solve practical problems together. In their sports classes, winning was not emphasized; at an early age students learned the principle of “friendship first, competition second.” Children who were falling behind received extra assistance from their teachers and fellow students. Every student could learn. Their potential just had to be cultivated.

 

Particularly in the lower grades, many lessons consisted of stories of heroines and heroes of majority and minority nationalities, children and adults, workers, peasants and soldiers doing noble and realizable deeds. At a combined primary and middle school, the CCAS delegation reported that:

 

We were surprised to find a sixth-grade reading class using as a text Rent Collection Courtyard, a series of articles about life in the old society. It was a new text, published during the Cultural Revolution. In a fourth-grade politics class, we heard the teacher discussing imperialism with her students. The lesson for the day was that United States imperialism was the leading enemy of Asian peoples and all peoples of the world. She gave an account of the Korean War and of two decades of American aggression in Southeast Asia.

 

The children also worked in school workshops. Groups of older children used stamping and electroplating machines to make parts for oil filters. The teachers explained to the visitors that learning facts and theory in the classroom and then applying them in the workshops helped the children to learn.

 

Textbooks, too, were changed during the Cultural Revolution. Districts experimented with writings their own textbooks, relating them to local problems and conditions. For example, schoolchildren in Nanjing used a book about the recently completed Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. Instead of professional administrators, schools were governed by revolutionary committees composed of students, teachers, neighborhood people, workers propaganda team members and members of the PLA.

 

Before the Cultural Revolution, primary school graduates had to take entrance examinations to be admitted to middle school, institutionalizing a tracking system.

 

A few elite schools took the children with the highest scores, usually from non-working class families, while those with low scores had to leave school. The Cultural Revolution abolished this system. All children could receive a middle school education, and each middle school had a mixture of students with different abilities and family backgrounds.

 

At the middle schools these American scholars visited, middle school course offerings were similar: Chinese language and literature, math, basic agricultural and industrial knowledge,9 physical education and military training, revolutionary art and culture, history-geography, and politics, including the study of Mao Zedong Thought and Marxism-Leninism. Often, the material studied in English and Chinese literature classes would be about political affairs.

 

A combination of open and closed book exams, along with evaluations by teachers, fellow students and the students themselves, was used to test how students were progressing.11 In addition, most middle school students in Beijing spent one month a year learning in a school workshop or in a factory outside the school, as well as one month working in an agricultural brigade. During these periods, the students read and discussed scientific books related to the work they were doing.

 

In study and work, individual and collective creativity was encouraged. While it was understood that students had different abilities, creativity was not seen as only individual. Rather the view was that it comes from the combined intelligence and cooperative efforts of many people.

 

This course of study and work graduated middle school students ready to contribute to socialist society. Of the 1970 graduates of one Beijing middle school, 60% started working in factories, 30% went to the countryside to work in small factories, health clinics, schools or in the fields, around 10% joined the army, and some went on to study at universities or technical institutes.

 

No classes were held in the universities in the early stages of the Cultural Revolution because of political turmoil and due to the effort to enable students to take part in political movements at their schools and in other parts of the country. When the schools reopened, they scrapped the old nationwide university admissions examination. Instead of taking senior middle school students in their graduation year, applicants were selected from among outstanding young workers, peasants and soldiers with two or more years of practical work behind them. Each province, district, city, factory and commune received a quota of applicants to fill. Then university admission committees made the final selections based on extensive interviews.

 

When Tsinghua University in Beijing reopened in June 1970, 45% of the students were selected by factories, 40% by the rural communes, and 15% by the PLA. Before the Cultural Revolution, 60% of the students were of non-working class origin. It was expected that these “worker-peasant-soldier students” would be more mature, more motivated, and have greater knowledge of the pressing problems of Chinese society.

 

For students who hadn’t graduated from senior middle school, a special half-year course was provided before they began the regular program at Beijing University.

 

At the new socialist universities, the course of study was shortened to two or three years. They had three faculties—arts, sciences and languages. In addition to the familiar college-level subjects with newly designed courses, political study and discussion was built into the curriculum. It was particularly important to keep politics in command of the universities so that their graduates, the most highly educated members of Chinese society, would not develop into a new bourgeois intellectual elite.

 

Teaching methods also changed radically. According to one professor, the old “injection method,” through which “we thought we could inject knowledge into students like serum into a patient,” was replaced by self-study and classroom discussion. One student commented that while books are important, “the more important thing is for us… to learn to think by ourselves, to use our own brains. Otherwise we will not be able to understand the real meaning of theories and their connection to practice, and we will not be able to solve the problems we encounter.”

 

Just as in the middle schools, work was incorporated into university courses of study. Beijing University had its own pharmaceutical factory, where students of organic chemistry and biochemistry were experimenting with and producing medicines. The factory also ran a two to three week course for workers from Beijing factories. After a visit to China in 1971, William Hinton reported that

 

 

Some engineering schools have in effect been dissolved and merged with nearby plants and design units so that students, teachers, engineers, draftsmen, workers, and technicians rotate through what can be called urban production communes, producing, learning and creating in turn, and then spinning off production teams capable of setting up new producing and learning communes. Just as in the rural communes, much emphasis is placed on the use of advanced workers and engineers in production as teachers in their special fields. These become part-time teachers on a regular basis.

 

 

Some technical institutes moved out of the cities altogether. For example, mining schools were moved to mining areas where students and faculty could combine theory with practice, work with and learn from the miners, and provide them with theoretical knowledge.

 

The Cultural Revolution also brought about changes in the administration of the universities. Workers and members of the PLA were assigned to the universities in order to ensure that students would not study in isolation and acquire knowledge that was irrelevant to the needs of the Chinese people. Students also served on the revolutionary committees that, together with workers, soldiers, professors and professional educators, administered the universities.

 

Another important question was the political consciousness and worldview of the teachers and professors. They were challenged to question what they taught and the methods they used, and to accept criticism from their students. And they had to combine theory with practice. At one teachers’ college in Shanghai, the professors divided their time equally between teaching, research and physical work in factories or the countryside. In teaching colleges’ second year, the study of pedagogy was combined with practice teaching in middle schools for a minimum of eight weeks. Once student teachers graduated, they often served as apprentices to more experienced teachers, a system that produced a stream of well-prepared new teachers.

 

Both newly trained teachers and veteran teachers who had felt suffocated by traditional teaching practices found their voices during these years. In the dozens of volumes of debates about education reforms published in different provinces during the Cultural Revolution, the most vocal condemnations of the old teaching methods came from teachers, and the most thoroughgoing proposals for changes were also made by teachers.

 

Education was not limited to the schools, but was viewed as an ongoing process of raising one’s cultural level, technical competence and political consciousness throughout adult life. One Canadian observer wrote about the varied arrangements for mass education during the Cultural Revolution:

 

 

There are study groups at workplaces and in neighborhoods that focus on the immediate problems of the group and on political issues. There are spare-time courses, part-work, part-study courses, correspondence and radio courses, and full–time workers’ colleges and peasants’ colleges offering programs in general “cultural knowledge” and technical skills.

 

 

A number of factories and communes she visited had their own libraries, and some advanced workers in Shanghai were engaged in studying Marxist philosophy and determining how to apply it to practical problems they faced in their plants, as well as to political issues in their work units.

 

In the early 1970s, a sharp struggle broke out among educators and within the party over whether to preserve the new system of education pioneered by the Cultural Revolution. In the film “Breaking With Old Ideas,” released in 1975, the two opposing lines were sharply presented. The first struggle was whether to build a new agricultural college in the countryside or the city, followed by the question of whether to admit peasants and workers with limited education or to require passing traditional exams. The film also featured the students’ demands for a curriculum that combined scientific knowledge, production skills and the development of political consciousness –to become red and expert– so they could return to serve their communes and factories.

 

The significance of these socialist educational policies was underscored by the restoration of pre-Cultural Revolution practices after Mao’s death. In 1977, the National College and University Entrance Exam was reinstated. According to one scholar, the extreme emphasis on standardized tests and curricula in the middle schools that did not fit the needs of rural people produced a drop-out rate of over 80% in some provinces during the early 1980s. During these years, large numbers of junior and senior middle schools were closed in the name of “raising standards.”

Budget cuts and the Aquino administration

No matter what excuses Malacañang spout now, the damning evidence can always be found in its previous pronouncements. For example, during their defense of the K+12 curriculum, the government said that this was to make our labor force more competitive. Deliberately-confusing jargon aside, this means that since an increasing number of Filipinos are employed as OFWs and call center agents, why not train more and more as such at the high school level. In this vision of the administration, college education is unnecessary. You don’t need Social Sciences 2, Humanities 2, Kasaysayan 1, Phil. Institutions 100, Sociology 10, Community Development 11, Natural Science 5, and the like, to wipe the asses of Caucasian elderly or to mimic the West Coast accent.

 

Another example is when Kabataan Partylist first proposed a several-year freeze of tuition and other fees in universities, the government said that school owners and administrators had the right to a fair profit. The unspoken extension of their logic is that this right is higher than students’ right to education.

 

Combined, the two Palace statements clearly state that college education is not a right. It is a commodity, a privilege, for those who can afford it. Last week’s lame excuses, such as that there is in fact a budget increase (by adding an Office of the President fund into the SUCs’ fund computation), are all attempts at ‘damage control’ against a Filipino student body that has finally awakened from its yellow-induced dreams.

 

Education budget cuts are consistent with our education system’s characteristics of being colonial (serving foreign, instead of national, interests), commercialized (education is treated as a business and commodity for sale), and fascistic (violence is used to maintain order in school, and schools are used to maintain the current social order). The Aquino administration’s preference for budget cuts, in turn, is consistent with its nature as the #1 institution which upholds the interests of foreign corporations, big local businesses and hacienderos.

 

As with previous administrations ever since Andres Bonifacio, the Father of the Phil. Revolution & The Katipunan, was ‘unseated’ in Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s coup d’etat, the top officials of the country are also those with huge business interests: haciendas and other massive landholdings like Aquino’s Luisita (which comprise the majority of all the agricultural land in the country), and large businesses like Tan’s Philippine Airlines and Cojuangco’s San Miguel. They came to power using their enormous wealth. But as history shows, what puts you into power isn’t enough to keep you there.

 

Hence, all of the above-mentioned administrations come to an ‘understanding’ with foreign powers, especially the U.S. In exchange for providing the means to remain in power (military assistance primarily, such as arms, troops, and even whole bases) against the vast majority of the Filipino people, these governments implement and uphold foreign over national interests. Note how even the highly-praised Cory Aquino pledged to pay all of the foreign debts we acquired under the dictator Marcos, even while many economists and political analysts said that we could use EDSA 1 as an excuse to cancel those payments.

 

And it is no different under the second Aquino. Budget cuts are but the latest in the many anti-people policies and programs which litter the sidewalk of the ‘daang matuwid’: non-prosecution of human rights violators under the previous administration, continued presence of U.S troops in the country in violation of the Constitution, refusal to redistribute Hacienda Luisita to its farmers, demolition of informal settler communities, oil price hikes, LRT-MRT fare hikes, expressway toll hikes, refusal to increase workers’ & gov’t employees’ wages, refusal to stop human rights violations by the military today, etc.

 

Therefore, all those who took part in Sept. 23, 2011 must ‘widen their perspectives’ in the fight against the budget cuts. We must now unite with other sectors waging their own struggles against the Aquino administration, not just because we recognize the principles of ‘united we stand, divided we fall’, but also because we are essentially fighting the same enemy: all of our problems come from common roots. And definitely, we must recognize that there is little hope in having our human rights recognized by the government. If we are to stop the budget cuts, we must set our targets even higher: a society where there will be no budget cuts to social services, one which prioritizes human rights. This is the challenge facing us all today.

Kwentong strike

Sept. 22

 

Hindi pa sumisikat ang araw, gising na ako. Usapan kasi naming ng ka-grupo ko sa fieldwork (sa kurso kasi naming Community Development, ang buong ika-4 na taon naming ay nakagugol sa pagtatrabaho sa mga proyekto para paunlarin ang mga maralitang komunidad sa siyudad at kanayunan. Ngayong semestre, naka-destino kami sa isang komunidad sa Capas, Tarlac, mga 20 minuto mula sa Hacienda Luisita), luluwas kami papuntang Maynila sa sikat ng araw. Pero dahil napatagal pa kami sa pag-papaalam sa mga host families namin, mga 6:30 na kami nakadating ng McArthur Highway.

 

Habang bumabyahe kaming SCTEX-NLEX, naalala ko yung kwento ng kapatid ng aking Nanay Susan kahapon. Nung nalaman niyang estudyante ako ng UP, tinanong niya ako kung magkano na matrikula dun. “Mga mahigit P20,000 po kada semestre ang karaniwang binabayaran” sagot ko. Sabi ni Tatay, para bang imposible ng makatuntong mga anak niya sa kolehiyo. Ang panganay niya kasi, 4th year hayskul na. Dagdag pa niya, dati P2,000 lang ang binayaran niya kada semestre para makapagtapos ng vocational na kurso. Ngayon daw, P11,000 na. Napanood niya ata yung unang araw ng mga strike sa PUP at UP.

 

Sa kabilang bahay nga, kila Nanay Marie, hindi na niya pinatuloy ang bunso niya sa kolehiyo dahil di nila kaya ang P5,000 kada semestre na matrikula sa Tarlac State University (TSU). Kung tutuusin, ito na ang may pinaka-murang tuition sa buong probinsya. Yung mga bahay sa tapat, at sa mga tabi, ng bahay na tinitirhan ko ay wala ni-isang nakapagtuntong sa kolehiyo. Katunayan nga, dalawa palang na kabataan dito sa komunidad ng mahigit 1,600 katao ang nakilala ko na nakapagtapos ng kolehiyo.

 

Dumating ako sa UP Manila na suot-suot ang sinusuot namin sa araw-araw sa may komunidad. Ginawa ko lang na P.E shorts ko ung suot ko, at hindi naman sando yung pang-itaas ko. Buti nalang may dala yung karelasyon ko na si Erica na mga prop (propaganda, o ung may mga pulitikal na mensahe na) shirts at pantalong maong. Kaunting hilamos lang, ready for action na ako para sa strike.

 

Unang araw yun ng welga sa UPM. Sa umagang yun, ang bulong ng mga organisador ay ‘delikado’ daw ang strike dahil maraming estudyante ang ‘di nalang pumapasok. Dahil maraming mga guro ang nakiisa sa welga at di nalang nag-klase, sinamantala ito ng iba para mag-bakasyon, mag-lakwatsa, o kung ano-ano pa man.

 

Nung pagpatak ng alas-diyes (ung pinagkaisahan ng mga estudyante, guro, at kawani na pormal na simula ng welga), may buhos ng mga estudyante. Pero imbes na dumiretso sa lugar na pinagdadaausan ng programa, nagmamadali silang magsilabas at dumiretso dun sa malapit na mall. Kaya naman halos maiyak na si Erica sa pagsambit niya sa mikropono na “Hindi lamang tungkol sa ating ang budget cuts! Pati ang PGH, kung saan nakaasa ang mga mahihirap na Pilipino para sa serbisyo medikal, ay apektado! Hahayaan ba natin na mamatay nalang sila dahil pinagkaitan ang mga mahihirap ng serbisyo medikal? Ganyan ba ang diwa ng ‘Iskolar ng Bayan’?”

 

Siguro may mga nakonsensya dahil yung mga tumpok ng mga nakatambay sa may RH Garden, lumapit na sa programa. At pagkatapos siguro ng isa o dalawang minuto, dumating na yung mga lider-estudyante ng UPM na nag-ikot sa buong College of Arts & Sciences (yung buong CAS Student Council at mga ilang miyembro ng University Student Council) kasama ang mga daan-daang estudyante na sinundo nila mula sa mga classroom nila. “OK”, sabi ng isang kasama, “Hindi na masama”.

 

Nagdaos kami ng maiksing programa. Nagsalita si Prop. Carl Ramota para sa CONTEND (grupo ng mga makabayang guro), isang representante mula sa All-UP Workers’ Union, at si Cleve Arguelles, ang bise-pangulo ng USC (hindi kasi nakiisa sa welga ung taga-pangulo nila, pati ang mga kapartido niya). Simula noon, tila baga hindi na naalis ang ngiti ko sa araw na iyon.

 

Simboliko naming isinara ang CAS sa pagtatayo ng mga barikada ng mga upuan. Pagkatapos, nag-planking kami sa kahabaan ng kalsada sa tapat ng CAS. Para akong bacon na pinirito sa aspalto sa ilalim ng tanghaling tapat. Kasi naman, tatlo lang kaming naunang humiga. Pagkatapos sumunod yung mga iba pang estudyante, pero pa-tatlo-tatlo o apat-apat. Tapos may mga nagpinta pa dun sa kalsada mismo. Pero tuwang-tuwa pa rin ako kasi nagtatawanan rin ung mga iba pang nag-planking sa biglaan at epektibong pagparalisa ng trapiko sa Taft Avenue. Dagdag pa dito, pinagtatawanan rin namin yung Anti-Planking Law ng isang mambabatas na walang magawa.

 

Pagkatapos, nag-martsa na kami papunta sa mga tinaguriang ‘white colleges’ (tinawag na ganito dahil ito ang mga kolehiyo kung saan ang mga estudyante ay naka-uniporme na puti, tulad ng Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, atbp.) para mag-imbita sa mga estudyante doon na sumama sa strike.

 

May laganap na karanasan ang mga organisador sa UPM sa pagiging ‘konserbatibo’, ‘maka-sarili’, at ‘apathetic’ ng mga estudyante sa ‘white’. Kaya naman halos di makapagsalita sila sa tuwa ng makitang may mga estudyante sa CAMP (College of Allied Medical Professions), Nursing, Dentistry, at Pharmacy na lumabas sa kanilang mga klase at sumama sa amin! Nag-martsa ang aming bulto hanggang sa tapat ng Phil. General Hospital (PGH) kung saan nagpahayag ng pakikiisa ang direktor ospital na si Dr. Joe Gonzales. Nakiisa rin ang Student Regent na si Krissy Conti, at binasa pa ang mga mensahe ng pakikiisa ng mga ilang mambabatas. Pagkatapos, isa nanamang planking. Pero ngayon, binuo namin ang salitang ‘UP STRIKE’ gamit ang aming mga katawan. Balita ko, ipinakita ito sa iilang mga pahayagan nung sumunod na araw.

 

Nag-martsa kami pabalik ng CAS para sa libreng pakain ng Sigma Kappa Pi fraternity para sa mga kalahok sa strike. Habang naglalakad, pabiro kaming nag-cha-chant ng “Lider estudyante, pakainin!” at “Sagot sa kagutuman, pagkain!”, mga paglalaro sa mga iba pang slogan ng mga aktibista.

 

Pagkatapos kumain ay ginawa naming malaking alternatibong classroom ang strike area. Nagtalakay ang mga miyembro ng iba’t-ibang organisasyong kalahok ng mga talakayan sa mga estudyante. Ang ilan sa mga paksa ay yung budget cuts mismo (may isang block ng mga first year na taga CAMP na halos wala pang alam hinggil dun), itsura ng sistema ng edukasyon ng bansa, hanggang sa kalagayang pampulitika at pang-ekonomiya ng bansa. Marami ang sumali sa mga nasabing organisasyon dahil sa mga ganung talakayan.

 

Hindi natuloy yung planong cultural program sa gabi na katulad sana nung strike nung nakaraang taon. Pero hindi nabagot ang mga estudyante na lumahok sa overnight vigil sa CAS. Tinuruan kami ng mga miyembro ng Indayog Dance Varsity, isa sa mga miyembro ng KILOS NA sa UPM. Pinalabas ang ilang mga dokyumentaryo tulad ng Yes Men, Sa Ngalan ng Tubo (hinggil sa Hacienda Luisita masaker), at Misedukasyon. Nagpakain naman yung Sigma Delta Pi sorority ng marshmallows at wafers na may chocolate dip (sosyal!). Ang libreng hapunan naman ay sagot ng Health Organization for the People (HOPE).

 

Isang kinatuwa namin ay yung mas maraming bilang ng mga dumalo sa vigil ngayong taon. May isang buong block ng 1st year (di ko nga lang alam kung Political Science o Development Studies ang kurso nila) na bagama’t hindi nag-overnight, nagpagabi sila. Tuwang-tuwa kami dun sa isang estudyante na 5pm palang nakaupo na sa may strike area at naghihintay ng programa. Walang nakakakilala sa kanya kaya nahiya ang mga taong kausapin siya. Pero kahit na ganun, nanatili siya hanggang sa kinausap siya ng mga kasama. Si Tsina, estudyante ng Nursing, ay miyembro na ng HOPE. Andun rin ang isa sa mga kaibigan ko at kapwa-miyembro sa Anakbayan, si Kath, na nagkaroon ng di-pagkakaunawaan sa pagitan naming dalawa nung mga nakaraang buwan. Natuwa ako na nakapagusap uli kami sa pagkakataon na iyon.

 

Masarap ang tulog namin nung gabing yun. Pinayagan kaming matulog sa library ng CAS, kung saan malamig at protektado kami sa mga lamok, dahil nakiisa sa welga yung Chief Librarian. Hanggang sa pagtulog namin, dama ko yung pagmamahal at suporta ng masa.

 

Sept. 23

 

Kaunting tapik lang, gising na agad ako. Bagama’t di pa 5am at natulog na ako ng 2am (dahil sa sobrang excitement), sinikap ko pa rin igpawan ang matinding antok na naghihila sa akin pabalik sa kama. Para magising yung mga iba pang kasama na tulog-mantika, nagpatugtog ako ng mga nakakatawang awit sa aking cellphone tulad ng ‘Last Friday Night’ ni Katy Perry at yung theme song ng pelikulang Rocky.

 

Pagkatapos gawing paliguan ang mga C.R, fresh na fresh na kaming sumasalubong sa mga maaagang dumating para sa 7am na mga klase. Pabiro kong sabi kay Erica, “Kitang-kita sino yung unti-unting kinakain ng sistema”. Pagkatapos ng (isa nanamang libreng) almusal ng arroz caldo na sagot naman ng Workers’ Union, nagsimula na ang mga organisador na mag-ikot sa CAS para magpalabas ng mga klase.

 

Di tulad ng kahapon, marami na agad ang mga estudyanteng naghihintay sa strike area. Pagbaba ng ilang mga estudyante na kusang lumabas na, nag-snake rally na kami.

 

Dumagundong sa buong CAS ang mga chant ng “Edukasyon, karapatan ng mamamayan!”, “Budget ng UP, dagdagan, huwag bawasan!”, “Budget Cut sa SUCs, tutulan, labanan, huwag pahintulutan!”, at “Walang pagbabago sa ilalim ni Aquino!”. Parang nasa UP Fair ang mga estudyante kung maghiyawan sa kada klase na napapalabas ang mga estudyante. Hindi na nga ganung karami yung mga klaseng nadadaanan kasi maraming propesor na ang kusang hindi nagturo ngayong araw bilang pakikiisa. Yung isang klase ng Computer Science, kahit na kumukuha sila ng exam, pinalabas pa rin sila.

 

Nagkaroon ng maiksing programa muli sa strike area. Nainis kami habang nakikita na nagsisialisan ang mga ibang estudyante dahil sa karanasan, yan yung mga nag-walkout nga, pero ginamit lang yun na paraan para makauwi ng maaga mula sa mga klase nila. Pero natuwa naman ako ng ituro ni JM Lanuza, isa sa mga miyembro ng USC, na yung iba ay bumabalik na may dala-dalang pagkain. Bumili lang pala yung iba ng tanghalian nila.

 

Nagsimula na ang martsa ng UPM papuntang Mendiola. Bagama’t yung inisyal na mahigit 1,000 na nag-walkout ay nabawasan papuntang mga 600-800, mataas pa rin ang mga diwa namin. Medyo kinakabahan lang ako na dahil naglalakad kami sa ilalim ng tanghaling-tapat, maubos yung bilang namin.

 

Padre Faura. City Hall. Lawton. Quiapo. Pag-dating namin sa puntong ito, naliligo na ako sa pawis at ang init na ng pakiramdam ng mukha, leeg, at ulo ko. Minu-minuto akong tumitingin dun sa mga nagmamartsa na mga first timers at nakikinig para sa kahit anong senyales na gusto na nilang tumigil. Pero salamat naman at kahit na kita mo ang pagod sa kanilang mga mukha, wala namang angal na lumalampas sa kanilang mga labi. Minu-minuto rin ang pagpapaalala ng mga marshalls na “Malapit na po tayo. Kaunti nalang”

 

Halos kasabay namin dumating sa tapat ng UST yung bulto ng mga estudyanteng hayskul na nag-walkout rin. Nagmamadali kaming umupo sa ilalim ng silong at bumili ng tubig. Agad akong nakaramdam ng upo pag-upo ko, at nangamba ako na ‘di na tatayo ang mga estudyanteng kasama namin.

 

Biglang may kumalat na balita: mahigit isang libo daw ang nagmamartsa mula UP Diliman. At ayun na nga, nakita ko sa malayo ang mga bandila at streamer na pula. Umakyat ako dun sa concrete island at nakita ko nga. Biglang naghiyawan ang mga tao at nagtaas ng kamo bilang pagsalubong sa mga naglakad ng 17 kilometro. Agad nawala ang atmospera ng pagod sa paligid namin.

 

At nagsimula na ang martsa papuntang Mendiola. Dumadagundong na talaga ang mga sigaw. UP Diliman. PUP. UP Manila. PNU. High School. Mga estudyante mula sa mga pribadong unibersidad. Mga kabataang kumakaharap sa demolisyon sa North Triangle, Quezon City. Mga kabataang out-of-school mula sa Maynila. Pag dating sa FEU, dumugtong ang mga estudyante ng FEU at PUP Taguig, pati ang mga kabataan mula sa iba pang parte ng Metro Manila. Kung nasa harap ka, di mo makita yung likuran ng bulto. Kung nasa likuran ka, di mo kita yung harapan ng bulto. Kung nasa gitna ka, di mo makita ang magkabilang dulo.

 

Pag salpak sa may kanto ng Morayta at Recto, naghihiyawan na kami ng “Mendiola! Mendiola” at “Ayan na, ayan na! Ayan na ang sambayanan!”. Ni-isang patak ng pagod ay tila nawala na sa katawan namin. Kitang-kita sa mukha ng lahat ang halo ng saya at kahandaang lumaban.

 

Sa wakas nakatuntong na kami ng Mendiola. Sa mismong oras na iyon, di ko maiwasang makaramdam ng matinding saya. Kayang-kaya naman palang magkaisa ng mga estudyante ng UP at ipaglaban ang interes ng mga tao labas sa kanila, kahit na kinukutya na ang pamantasan bilang tahanan ng mga mayayamang maka-sarili. Kitang-kita kung paano ang mga estudyante at masa ay kikilos basta’t sila’y aabutin at papaliwanagan, at basta tama ang ipinagpaliwanag. Naalala ko yung kanta ni Bob Marley at naalala ko si Noynoy, “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time”.