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GMA MUST GO!
A Statement of the University Council
of the University of the
Philippines Diliman
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has no basis to continue in office.
On 13 July 2005, at the height of the Garci Scandal, the University
Council (UC) of the University of the Philippines Diliman—called on
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign immediately. She did not
resign.
The UC observed that all her acts are “a direct assault on nearly all the
values we hold sacred in the academe.”
Since then, there has been an unprecedented number of extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances – which includes two U.P. students,
Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.
Corruption in the highest places continues unabated and remains
unaddressed. Institutions which were created by the Constitution or the
law to safeguard accountability have either been ineffective or rendered
ineffective.
Official government response
to requests for information on matters of public concern has been to
thwart the truth either by the invocation of Executive Privilege or by
threats issued to the working media. The exercise of basic freedoms has
been met with repressive measures such the Calibrated Pre-emptive Response
(CPR) and Presidential Proclamation 1017. This criminal regime resorts to
kidnapping and massive bribery to prevent the truth from coming out.
Despite GMA's insistence that she does not tolerate corruption, she has
been forced by public pressure to admit that she knew about the kickbacks
long before the Senate investigations on the NBN-ZTE deal. As a result,
she has entrapped herself in a web of lies.
When GMA is caught lying, she either stonewalls or orders an investigation
which churns out prefabricated results. These actions are in stark
contrast with two objectives which are cherished by the University –
getting at the truth and forging a democratic society. Both of these are
obviously anathema to GMA.
Public Office is a public
trust. All public officials are accountable to the people at all times.
This is one of the core principles enshrined in our Constitution. The
President’s previous silence on the anomalous NBN-ZTE deal and her belated
admission of prior knowledge violate this core principle. This is only the
latest of her violations.
As an academic community we know that the truth cannot be found in Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo.
In UP’s Centennial year, the faculty continues to uphold its tradition of
being one with our people. We commit ourselves to the struggle to build a
progressive society and a responsible and accountable government which
subscribes to the principle that sovereignty resides in the people and all
governmental authority emanates from them.
But first, GMA must go!
The statement was unanimously approved by the UP Diliman University
Council. 27 February 2008
Download statement
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MEDIA RELEASE
28 February 2008
Reference:
PROF. JUDY M. TAGUIWALO, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Chair, University Council Committee on Faculty Welfare, Conduct and
Development
Mobile Phone: 09167829666
UP Diliman Council of Professors declares “Gloria Must Go”
The University Council (UC) of the University of the Philippines Diliman ,
the council of professors, associate professors and assistant professors,
in a special meeting last February 27, 2008 unanimously adopted two
resolutions on the current political crisis entitled “Gloria Must Go” and
“UP Faculty Demand the Resignation of Romulo Neri as CHEd Chair.” Below
this media release are the two UC statements which can also be downloaded
from www.upd.edu.ph .
The University Council also approved the motion for UP Diliman to
participate in the February 29 Interfaith Prayer Assembly in Makati. The
UP contingent composed of faculty, students, research, extension and
professional staff and administrative staff will assemble on Friday,
February 29, 2008 at 1pm at Quezon Hall, UP Diliman for a press conference
and short program before proceeding to Makati.
MEDIA COVERAGE IS REQUESTED.
GMA MUST GO!
A Statement of the University Council of the University of the Philippines
Diliman
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has no basis to continue in office.
On 13 July 2005, at the height of the Garci Scandal, the University
Council (UC) of the University of the Philippines Diliman—called on
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign immediately. She did not
resign.
The UC observed that all her acts are “a direct assault on nearly all the
values we hold sacred in the academe.”
Since then, there has been an unprecedented number of extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances – which includes two U.P. students,
Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.
Corruption in the highest places continues unabated and remains
unaddressed. Institutions which were created by the Constitution or the
law to safeguard accountability have either been ineffective or rendered
ineffective.
Official government response to requests for information on matters of
public concern has been to thwart the truth either by the invocation of
Executive Privilege or by threats issued to the working media. The
exercise of basic freedoms has been met with repressive measures such the
Calibrated Pre-emptive Response (CPR) and Presidential Proclamation 1017.
This criminal regime resorts to kidnapping and massive bribery to prevent
the truth from coming out.
Despite GMA's insistence that she does not tolerate corruption, she has
been forced by public pressure to admit that she knew about the kickbacks
long before the Senate investigations on the NBN-ZTE deal. As a result,
she has entrapped herself in a web of lies.
When GMA is caught lying, she either stonewalls or orders an investigation
which churns out prefabricated results. These actions are in stark
contrast with two objectives which are cherished by the University –
getting at the truth and forging a democratic society. Both of these are
obviously anathema to GMA.
Public Office is a public trust. All public officials are accountable to
the people at all times. This is one of the core principles enshrined in
our Constitution. The President’s previous silence on the anomalous
NBN-ZTE deal and her belated admission of prior knowledge violate this
core principle. This is only the latest of her violations.
As an academic community we know that the truth cannot be found in Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo.
In UP’s Centennial year, the faculty continues to uphold its tradition of
being one with our people. We commit ourselves to the struggle to build a
progressive society and a responsible and accountable government which
subscribes to the principle that sovereignty resides in the people and all
governmental authority emanates from them.
But first, GMA must go!
UP Faculty Demand Resignation of Romulo Neri as CHEd Chair While scandal
after scandal has once again been piling up on Malacañang's doorstep,
former NEDA Director General Romulo Neri's service as Chairman of the
Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) has quietly been extended by Pres.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo another six months until August 2008.
During the first week of February 2008, Malacañang did everything in its
power to help both Neri and ex-NEDA consultant Engr. Rodolfo Lozada, Jr.
to evade the Senate arrest warrants which were issued against them for
having snubbed a scheduled Senate hearing on the tainted National
Broadband Network – Zhong Xing Telecom Equipment (NBN-ZTE) deal. While
Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo’s "good boy" Neri flaunted his success at "hiding
out" until he secured a TRO from the Supreme Court, Lozada, though
kidnapped and intimidated, chose to follow the dictates of his own
conscience and come clean on the NBN-ZTE scandal.
During his Senate testimony, Lozada repeatedly aired his respect for Neri
but he also candidly and very honestly gave out damning details on how
Neri purportedly conducted his work at NEDA. Most interesting of all was
Neri's explicit directive to avoid implicating the "First Gentleman" (and
therefore Malacañang) in the scandal and his instruction to Lozada, not
simply to work within the law, but to "moderate the greed" of Abalos and
the First Gentleman. Lozada will find out soon enough, what kind of a
person Neri is when the latter saves his own skin and leaves him hanging
alone. One will recall the convenient excuse called "Executive Privilege"
which Neri ceaselessly invoked the last time he appeared in the Senate in
order to avoid having to lie about details of Malacañang's involvement in
the NBN deal.
Neri may perhaps be seen as a striking example of a cowardly bureaucrat
who cannot stand up for the truth when faced with the "dark side of the
state," but, in truth, he has become much more than that. He has also
become both a functionary and a beneficiary of a hopelessly corrupt
system. That he went to such great lengths to evade the truth in order to
protect his patrons implicates him directly in the latter’s crimes. Due to
Lozada's testimony, the word "Commission" in "Commission on Higher
Education" now takes on a more insidious meaning.
Neri has lost whatever trace of credibility he may have previously had as
a career official. We recall that in keeping with Malacañang's skewed
notion of "grassroots consultation," he convened the Education Summit
which excluded the participation of representative organizations of
teachers and students and instead saw them violently dispersed by the
police from the premises of the Summit.
Neri not only lacks the
minimum formal requirement for his current position as Chairman of the
CHEd (not being a PhD holder), he is now also deficient in the most
important qualification. He has lost all moral high ground required of a
person entrusted with reviving the country's decaying higher education
system. Furthermore, as UP faculty, we cannot accept that Neri, as head of
CHEd, continues to chair the UP Board of Regents, the highest policy
making body of the University of the Philippines.
◄◄◄
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Meron
Merong Daya
Meron
merong daya, Kontrata ni Gloria
Daan
daang milyon, siniksik sa bulsa.
Pagdipa
magbago, magrebo na masa,
Wala ng
pagunlad, sa gan'tong sistema.
Ang
sabi ng iba, walang ebidensya
ang
kinakaso sa kawawang Gloria
Ang
sabi ko naman, Kung sa totoo lang
sapat
nang basehan, Gutom na taumbayan
Tena
kababayan, tayo'y maki-isa
At ating yugyugin, korap na sistema
Ang bandila’t placard, pagkaganda-ganda
Kay ganda
ng kulay – pulang, pulang pula.
Pandaraya’t korapsyon, Militarisasyon,
Asasinasyon ng mga oposisyon,
kung
di pa yan sapat, para makibaka’t
para patalsikin, abay… ewan ko na!
Bansa'y ibigin mo, laging ipaglaban
politikong ganid, hwag nang pagbibigyan
I am sori
kuno, parte ng dulaan
Ang sistemang bulok, ang ating kalaban!
Ang
sistemang bulok, ang ating kalaban!
Download MP3 of Merong Daya
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Tong, Tong, Tong
Tong (4x)
Nagkapatong patong
Bumukol, nabuking
Ang komisyon sa ZTE
Ni Abalos at ni FG
Nang umalma itong si Joel.
Tong (4x)
Nagkapatong-patong
Si Neri umurong
PSG dinukot si Jun
Nag-ingay ang media
Sa senado siya napunta.
Tong (4x)
Nagkapatong-patong
Nagalit ang masa
Lumabas sa kalsada
Hanap ay kalutasan
Sumisigaw ng OUST GLORIA!
Download MP3 of Kotong
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