The Department of Public Works and Highways – Baguio City District Engineer’s Office (DPWH- BCDEO) stands by three principles:

(1) Right Cost – reasonable and fair budget allocation
(2) Right Project – constructions, rehabilitation and improvement where most needed
(3) Right Quality – durable and safe roads

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The DPWH is the first government agency that comes to mind when the topic is road construction. This is typical because the word “highways” is in the name and a responsibility of the department. But does this department accommodate complaints?

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from UP Baguio journalism 106: investigative journalism — read the other side of the long-running controversy between the citizens and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

please share your thoughts with us!  leave your comments at the bottom of the page.

libro, hindi bala.

sometimes I miss those freshie days when UP was still pristine and immaculate in my eyes and being there was nothing short of amazing.  the academic workload was a healthy challenge and first years were the priority in tons of events.  I was fully convinced that I would graduate after exactly four academic years.  and I had this overblown but noble concept of Iskolar ng Bayan and social responsibility and how we were - are - capable of so much.

not to say that I am complaining about my UPian life now.  but it’s a little sad sometimes to realize how much has changed in the way I look at my school and myself.  it’s like losing the innocence of youth.

in any subject — GE, minor, major, elective, NSTP, PE, any subject at all — missing a class can hardly be called a good move.  intentionally skipping class is even worse, especially if those 90 minutes are dedicated to something unproductive.  I admit that more than once I have cut class, sometimes to take care of other more urgent requirements, other times because I was running late and had already surpassed the fifteen minute grace period, and in a few instances, frankly, just because I was feeling tired or lazy.

in my two-going-on-three years in UP Baguio, however, I have not yet missed a walk out.  the walk out of 2010 was for the fight against the state universities and colleges budget cut, and this year the battle for the people’s right to an education continues.

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one of many new loves for the year 2011: The Anthropology Organization.

this is their/our board for Salakniban.

Tuesday

• woke up early and got to school half an hour before the start of my first class
• hung out with Mela, Jason, Albert, and Dani at the kiosk
• may dumaan at nagkaruon ng grabeng laglagan
• hugs all around

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— agit of the moment, and possibly the whole semester or academic year.

because what fuckery is this Socialized Tuition and Financial “Assistance” Program?  assuming that those above bracket B (and apparently even those in bracket B) are millionaires?  as it is, the system barely gives its cause justice.

Thus, tuition collection in the University worked in the following manner: All students are assumed able to pay the high cost of education, placing all of them in the default Bracket B*. Then, STFAP acts as strain to ensure that fewer students will receive tuition discounts and even less will receive stipends and other benefits.

As a result, during the implementation of the Restructured STFAP following the 300% tuition increase from 2007 to summer of 2009, the administration collected roughly P500 million from the raised tuition, while spending a measly P25 million for STFAP beneficiaries. It effectively generated almost P475 million profit for the University!

(source: KASAMA sa UP STFAP Primer, Facebook note)

for all its allegedly good intentions of taking more only from those who (supposedly) can afford to give more in order to lighten the load of those not as well-off, it’s doing a bang-up job.  in fact, those who can give more seem to be basically covering the amount that should be subsidized by the government, whose fucking responsibility by the way is to provide social services to its citizens.

The national government’s grand plan is to steadily liberate itself from the responsibility of ensuring quality and free education for its people. This is alongside the fact that governments all over the world are pressured by economic superpowers to adopt neoliberal policies in their countries (meaning, reduction of subsidy for social services and allowing private businesses to generate profits by penetrating into the social service sector, among other aspects of the economy).

The Philippine government has laid the basis for such penetration in the education sector when it adopted the Education Act of 1982, effectively deregulating the tuition rates of colleges and universities. Since then, the tuition in public and private universities skyrocketed in an ever increasing rate (alongside price increases in basic commodities due to large-scale liberalization of the local economy). It effectively pulled education farther away from the reach of the general Filipino youth and added burden to the already ailing masses.

(source: same as above)

have we conveniently forgotten the definition of state university?

I strongly suggest that my fellow iska’s and isko’s read the whole primer and pass it on.  aside from being a major issue in the university at present, the STFAP also served as a royal pain in the ass during our enrollment.  it’s good to know the reasons behind your suffering, both those trivial and the earth-shattering.

as go the resounding sentiments on Tuition and Other Fee Increases, ang edukasyon ay isang karapatan at kailanman ay hindi magiging isang pribelehiyo lamang.  (Education is a right and will never be a mere privilege.)

to keep up with the STFAP issue as well as other related issues and for more information, follow and backread #educationforall.  there is also a detailed article on the Anakbayan website.

now is not the time for apathy.

assiduous:

ACADEMIC YEAR 2011 - 2012

Ayun, hindi pa daw nauupdate ni Manong Jay (ng OUR) yung website ng UPB so nanghingi na lang ako ng kopya ng academic calendar. :D

as a freshman, the first thing I bought that would identify me as a UP student was an ID lace.  the thick kind.  in foresight, I find it weird that I actually used it for my ID.  walk around UPB for one day and you’ll probably be able to count on one hand the number of people actually wearing their ID’s.  presently, I use it for my press ID and keep my school ID in my wallet.

then, because we were freshmen, we had to buy PE uniforms.  I don’t wear my PE uniform much outside of the days when I actually have PE class.  my shorts were eaten or something have kind of been lost for a while now, no idea what happened to them.

by the time Freshie Night rolled around, my blocmates and I were sporting personalized jackets: black zip-up with gold embroidery.  the design on the back is a CAC3 emblem thing that’s shaped like a spade.  our resident sketch artist designed it for us. on the front, there’s a sort of silhouette of Oble, and our names were sewed onto the inside pockets.

I also have quite a few items from organizations.  a blue Alliance of Concerned Students t-shirt from our 32nd anniversary, two shirts (one serious and one chummy, black with silver print and white with colored design respectively) from Tanghalang Bayan ng Kabataan sa Baguio’s 26th anniversary and a leather-ish necklace with our logo from the same event.  and, for our pool project last semester, a TaBaK Baguio Music Pool jacket.

then of course, there is the paper-thin shirt from the National Training Service Program.  we only get one for both terms.  mine, I kind of took out my frustration with the NSTP on it and fashionably ripped it up. it’s still wearable, in a way.  just not a particularly honorable way or the way in which it was originally intended.

what kind of wearables identify you as a UPian?

sundotkulangot:

DAMN STRAIGHT. :D (also I can’t stop staring at the gif.)

(Source: stillsundotkulangot)