Page 35 - The Flame

their tuition. “UST should be an institution that val-
However, Vitriolo said that schools should ues education as a basic right, rather than as TIMELINE
give a “fair notice” to the students before im- a private institution that is hungry for profit.
plementing new policies. The memo they issued contradicts their teach- What happened before?
The policy was released only a few weeks ings,” Campos said in an online interview.
before the enrollment of the second semes- However, this issue that appears to be new CENTRAL Student Council President Lorraine
ter and it apparently gave students with un- to students is old and recurring as Taguiam Taguiam said the Finance memo was released
due to the P85.5 million uncollected fees from
paid balance insufficient time to settle their noted that the policy was already implement- students last semester. She added that the
account. A six percent interest was charged ed in the past years, and that “the University University has an estimated total receivables
to those who failed to settle their balance on [saw it fit] to strictly implement it [again] this of P200 million.
time, but this order was later on deferred until year.” The Finance office released a memo last
the next academic year. October 7 barring students with remaining
“A [few] weeks under the circumstances Need for Students’ Code balance from enrolling. The same memo also
[is not enough]. They (administration) should Taguiam noted that the passage of a mag- cancelled out the privilege of using promissory
have publicized it first,” he told the Flame. na carta for students’ rights could have helped notes to enroll. A six percent interest was im-
“The most acceptable is for them to imple- the students in bargaining with the administra- posed on students with outstanding balance
ment the policy on the next school year.” tion. for failure to pay on time.
“If the code was fully implemented, we In response, Political Party Alliance of Con-
Reasonable cases could have done something about the [finance] cerned Thomasians (ACT-Now!) and Civil Law
In response to the protests made against policy,” Taguiam said. “One of the provisions Student Council Public Relations Officer (PRO)
the policy, Taguiam said the CSC lobbied for present in the code is for the students to have Victor Villanueva launched the Facebook Page
the University to accept promissory notes for bargaining powers that entitle them to relate “No to UST No-Enrollment Policy on Students
the second semester. their opinions in terms of policy-making.” with Unpaid Balance.” A photo and informa-
“We still considered that the University has Under Article V of the proposed code, stu- tion campaign was started by the group. The
a reasonable cause. We did not lobby for the dents have the right to participate in the pol- said page also gave birth to a group called
total disregarding of the memo,” she said. icy-making process. The CSC or local student Thomasians for Education Alliance (TEA).
In her November 22 meeting with De la councils shall represent the student body dur- Students posted and commented on the
Rosa, the latter approved to restore the prom- ing the policy-making process. page and shared their sentiments. Different
issory note-privilege. “No policy that affects students’ rights and student organizations and political parties
“It depends on the reasonableness of the welfare shall be implemented without par- pledged their support for the page and its
case. There should be a guarantee for the Uni- ticipation in the deliberation, formulation, and cause.
versity to approve it,” Taguiam said. “Also, on implementation of the duly authorized repre- After bargaining for a compromise with
EDILBERTO LORENZO R. MORELOS, JR. exceptional cases like death of a family mem- sentatives of the students,” the Code says in the Office of the Vice Rector for Finance, the
ber and sickness, the University will take that Section 2 of the said Article. Central Board of Students (CBS) released an
into consideration.” However, Taguiam said that this provision announcement that the six percent interest
order will be deferred until the next academic
Also in the said meeting, De la Rosa shared is one of the “most controversial provisions” in year.
his observations with Taguiam and said that the Code. On November 14, the TEA released a man-
the people “crying for justice” upheld the very “It is because the administration’s point of ifesto stating their demands which are mainly
essence of the memo. view is still conservative. [For them] there are to “junk the policy” and to “allow genuine stu-
“[The memo gives] justice to those stu- certain things that students should not meddle dent participation in the creation of policies.”
dents who pay on time,” she recounted the with,” she said, adding that the provision is a The manifesto was signed by 1,055 students,
Rector saying. way “just for us to be heard and to be consid- both in paper and online.
Taguiam added that students may also ered with regard to the policies they want to The manifesto was passed on November
send their promissory notes during the pre- implement.” 17 to the Office of the Vice Rector for Finance.
liminary examinations and “hopefully in their Vitriolo backed this claim and said that stu- In November 21, during the last day of
final examinations [as well], but they need to dents, particularly student leaders, should take enrollment, the CSC met with Internal Audi-
have no outstanding balance by the end of the an “active part” in the policy-making process tor Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O. P. and bargained
semester.” of the University. for the extension of the enrollment. They also
“[In] the constitutional autonomy [in ap- asked for the reconsideration of the promis-
Hasty issuance plying new policies], we prescribe that the sory notes application.
In line with the hasty issuance of the memo, students should be an active part of policy- Earlier, the CSC had a meeting with UST
some critics argue that the policy should have making. The student government should take Secretary General Fr. Florentino Bolo, Jr., O.P.
been implemented next academic year so as to steps to protect the welfare of their fellow stu- regarding the extension of the enrollment
give affected parties enough time to prepare. dents,” Vitriolo said. period. Taguiam said that Bolo was amend-
Arts and Letters Student Council (ABSC) able to the idea, but he said that the deans of
President Julius Fernandez questioned the Enrollment drop ‘just normal’ each college should be consulted first because
compassion of the University to students who Meanwhile, Artlets Dean Michael Anthony there are colleges that have already reached
“really deserve and have the willingness to Vasco said that a drop in the number of enroll- their target enrollment.
study, but are facing financial difficulties.” ees for the second semester is “just normal.” The CSC originally pleaded for the enroll-
Fernandez added that not all of the stu- Of the 3,863 enrollees of the first semester ment to be extended until the first week of
dents who are suffering due to the imposition this academic year, the enrollees dropped to December. The CHED prescribes a two-week
of the memo are financially challenged but are 3,749 or 2.95 percent decrease this semester. extension from the first day of enrollment.
On November 22, Taguiam met with Rec-
irresponsible students who use the money for “The University experiences that every tor Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. and discussed
other means instead of using it to settle their year,” Vasco said. the issue. Dela Rosa extended the enrollment
account. Last academic year, 125 Artlets students period for four days and restored the privilege
Artlets Political Party Act-Now! Spokesper- or 3.37 percent did not enroll for the second of using promissory notes to enroll. F
son Sofia Santiago said the new policy does semester. F
not reflect the ideals upheld by the University.
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