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 1, 2014, the University of the Philippines Cebu Student Council 2014 2015 6
conducted its 11
th
official meeting at the Student Council Office. The meeting was called to 7
order at 5:50PM with 9 members present and 5 absent. The meeting was presided by the 8
Student Council Vice-Chairperson, Mr. France Kevin Degamo. 9
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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
Carmen Jonahville Matarlo (3
rd
Year Representative) 17
Patrick Byron Gattoc (2
nd
Year Representative) 18
Hannah Lois Tidalgo (2
nd
Year Representative) late 6:27PM 19
Damsel Mondido (FA Representative) 20
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The following were absent in the meeting: 22
April Dyan Gumanao (Chairperson) went home to Kidapawan 23
Darl Octa Henessa Santos (Councilor) went home to Biliran 24
Christine Meriz (4
th
Year Representative) toothache 25
Justine Luis Raphael Balane (3
rd
Year Representative) went home to Cagayan de Oro 26
Narlyn Dura (FA Rerpresentative) still in Samar 27
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The following were also present in the meeting: 29
James Pielago and Mark from the UP Political Sciences Society 30
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CALL TO ORDER 33
The meeting was called to order at 5:50PM. Quorum was established. 34
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A. AGENDA 36
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After the quorum was reached, the meeting was called to order and Vice 38
Chairperson Degamo presented the following agenda. 39
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1) Business Arising
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Reading of minutes
42
Appendices to the minutes
43
Student Representatives, AH and Sciences Search for Cluster Chair
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2) STFAP/STS Discussion
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3) STS Campaign
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4) Rise for Education
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5) Cookout Matters
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6) OM
49
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Councilor Dingding and Councilor Calderon added the items SONA Activity, 51
Room Use update and STS Matters to the Other Matters agendum. 52
53
Representative Gattoc moved to approve the order of the agenda of the meeting 54
with proposed amendments and was duly seconded by Councilor Calderon. 55
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B. ORDER OF BUSINESS 57
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1) Business Arising 59
i. Reading and approval of the Minutes of the 10
th
meeting 60
61
Councilor Trocio, the acting Secretary General of the 10
th
official meeting, 62
presented the minutes she wrote. After being read by the members, no 63
corrections were made. Also, the Incident Report submitted by Councilor 64
Dingding to the Associate Dean for Administration, Prof. Tan, will be inserted as 65
an Appendix to the said minutes. 66
67
Representative Tidalgo moved to approve the minutes of the 10
th
official 68
meeting. The motion was seconded by Councilor Dingding. 69
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ii. Appendices to the minutes of 9
th
meeting 71
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As the councils representative, Councilor Calderon and Representative 73
Tidalgo are set to accomplish a report on their attendance to the Forum held last 74
June 30 and be attached to the minutes of the 9
th
meeting. 75
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iii. Student Representatives AH and Sciences Search for Cluster Chair 77
o Arts and Humanties search Student Rep: Representative Gattoc 78
o Sciences Search Student Rep: Councilor Dingding 79
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2) STS/STFAP Discussion 81
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As tackled on the previous meeting, the council is set to hold an educational 83
discussion (ED) on STS/STFAP. The EDs instructor for the issue is Councilor 84
Dingding. 85
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Before proceeding to the discussion, Councilor Trocio urged the council to set 87
their individual expectations on the issue discussion. The following were the 88
expectations set by each councilors: 89
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i. Vice Chairperson Degamo: After the ED, I hope that the council will have a 91
critical scrutiny on STS. 92
ii. Representative Libres: I hope we can discuss the recent happenings 93
pertaining to STS. As SC, we have to think on ways on how to address the 94
issue and protect the rights of the students. 95
iii. Representative Tidalgo: I hope to know the deeper history of STFAP and 96
STS, to tackle the issue to be able to point out the main root of STS, and 97
have a solution that we can use to address the problem. 98
iv. Representative Gattoc: Aside from deeper analysis of the STS, I hope we 99
can also connect it to the deeper problems in the society. 100
v. Councilor Calderon: I hope we can clearly see the deeper problem on this 101
policy, how can we try to solve the policy and so that it can fully serve its 102
purpose as a tuition scheme. 103
vi. Councilor Trocio: I hope we can unify in one call so that as a council, we can 104
take measures on what to do with STS. We have to know the very essence of 105
this policy and most especially its effects to UPs future students. 106
107
Afterwards, Councilor Dingding discussed the history of STFAP/STS and its 108
effects to the students for 25 years. The following are the important highlights of 109
Councilor Dingdings discussion: 110
111
a. 1983. Then President Marcos passed PD 177 which allocated two-thirds of 112
the national budget to debt servicing and military expenditures, and a meager 113
one-third to basic social services (shared by education, housing and health). 114
Subsidy to state universities and colleges were slashed. To cope with the 115
trying times, UP was forced to increase its tuition by 169%. 116
b. 1989. IMF recognized that the debts incurred by the Philippines and its 117
people only benefitted the Marcoses. We were no longer liable to pay for the 118
debts but then Pres. Cory Aquino honored it. As a consequence, a big chunk 119
of national budget was given to debt servicing. Again, due to lack of state 120
subsidy, UP was forced to institutionalize the Socialized Tuition Financial 121
Assistance Program wherein students who can afford should pay the full 122
tuition rate. From P40/unit, students were made to pay P300/unit at the 123
maximum 124
c. 2006-2007. The institutionalization of STFAP reforms. The number of 125
brackets were narrowed down from 9 to 6 with P1, 500/unit as the maximum 126
tuition rate. 127
d. 2007. Bracket B certification Students may opt to pay P600/unit without 128
applying for STFAP. 129
e. 2013. Institutionalization of another reform, Socialized Tuition Scheme, 130
wherein the base tuition was transferred from Bracket A to B. 131
132
After the discussion, a few points of manifestation were raised on the floor. 133
Councilor Trocio added that upon STFAPs implementation in 2007, UP raised P500 134
million while spending a measly P25 million to STFAP beneficiaries. She also added 135
that this scheme is being pilot-tested in other SUCs due to the Aquino 136
administrations Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform (RPHER). 137
138
Vice Chairperson Degamo added that we should look the principle of STS over 139
its implementation. 140
141
Councilor Calderon said that STS roots from the improper budget allocation and 142
as a result, a lot of students are sacrificed due to its implementation. Aside from its 143
budget allocation, he also added that the council should look at how well the STS is 144
implemented to help avoid jeopardy in the UP administrations operation on 145
STS/STFAP. 146
147
Councilor Dingding manifested that instead of worrying about how the 148
implementation of STS would jeopardize the operations of the UP administration, we 149
should rather look at how the jeopardy of STS itself would burden the students. 150
151
Vice Chairperson Degamo further manifested the concept of STS in the trickle- 152
down effect principle in such a way that when there is no proper budget allocation for 153
state-run institutions, it would give the institution a reason to continue its operation 154
despite insufficient budget. As a result, the institution is forced to implement 155
mechanisms that would help them generate income to cover up to the deficit of their 156
proposed budget. 157
158
No further manifestations were made. The council assessed Councilor 159
Dingdings presentation. 160
161
3) STS Campaign 162
163
Councilor Dingding updated that the council shall be posting another 164
#KwentongSTS from UP Cebu. 165
166
Councilor Trocio said that she planned to make STS Online Survey to serve 167
as preliminary data for SC. The results of the data will be collated so that the council 168
could also present a report to the STS Appeals committee on July 7 through 169
Councilor Dingding. Batch representatives were tasked to ensure that 50%+1 of their 170
batchs population can answer the survey. 171
172
The council is also set to make a stand on STS on or before July 10. 173
Councilor Dingding was tasked to write the initial statement to be deliberated by the 174
council. 175
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4) Rise for Education alliance 177
178
Vice Chairperson Degamo received a letter from NUSP inviting the SC to join the 179
launching/orientation of the Rise for Education alliance on July 5. 180
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Rise for Education Alliance is open to everyone who believes that education 182
should be accessible and should cater to the countrys needs. The council tasked 183
Representative Gattoc to be its representative to the orientation activity. 184
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5) Cookout matters 186
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This agendum is off the record. 188
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6) Other Matters 190
i. SONA Activity 191
Councilor Dingding announced that on July 3, there will be a State of the 192
Youth Address (SOYA). SOYA aims to assess the impact of the performance of 193
the Aquino administration to the youth sector. On July 17 at 5p, there will be a 194
mass mobilization called the Cebu Youth Day of Protest. Vice Chairperson 195
Degamo, Councilors Dingding and Trocio, Representative Matarlo, Mark and 196
James committed to join the said event. 197
198
Lastly, the SC is set to hold a SONA viewing on July 28. There will be 199
reactors from the youth and students, the academe, the school workers and 200
other concerned sectors. Representative Matarlo was assigned to write a letter to 201
request the UP Cebu administration to allow SBP students to join the said 202
activity. 203
204
ii. Room use 205
Councilor Calderon reported that after Councilor Dingding left the Room 206
Use committee meeting, the committee members decided to move the SC office 207
to the present Tug-ani office, and Tug-ani office will be transferred to Arts and 208
Culture office. 209
210
iii. STS Matters 211
A pubmat will be released by Representative Gattoc regarding the new 212
schedule of appeals (July 1-15) and last wave of STS application (July 7-21). 213
Students who do not have UP mail should now proceed to the CSU with their 214
IDs. 215
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C. ADJOURNMENT OF THE MEETING 218
219
Having no agendum to discuss further, Vice Chairperson Degamo moved to 220
adjourn the meeting. Motion was approved by Representative Tidalgo and seconded by 221
Representative Libres. The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 pm. 222
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Prepared by: 225
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ANGEL ROSE C. TROCIO 227
Councilor 228
Acting Secretary General 229
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APPENDIX A 253
Report on the Attendance to ( ) 254
Submitted by Councilor Chatch Calderon and 255
Representative Hannah Lois Tidalgo 256
to the UP Cebu Student Council 257
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