An Efficient Victory: The Role of Information Technology and Social Media inEmpowering and Strengthening the University and the Iskolar ng Bayan

Ivan Dominic F. BaguioNominee, Student Regent

The University of the Philippines holds the distinction of being the State’s premieruniversity and its students, the Iskolar ng Bayan. As such, we have been heavily involved inpublic affairs and issues, while remaining on the forefront of student activism. From the verybeginning, these iskos and iskas have proven that student participation is not merely restricted inthe academe but are truly grounded in the real world and the issues surrounding it from MartialLaw during the Marcos Era to the issues of corruption in distribution of pork barrel today. TheOffice of the Student Regent (OSR) functions as these scholars’ representative to the Board ofRegents and serves as a unifying force among all campuses.

And yet despite these achievements and participations, it has been the contention that thecurrent student-scholars have become apathetic to the world around them and have gone out oftouch with student activism. It is my belief that these fellow scholars have not forgotten theideals and principles that have led to our hard-earned democracy and rights but merely have beenleft untapped in the progressing fight for social justice and rights.

That is to say these students are not above mass demonstrations and educationaldiscussions but rather they have found the current mode of student activism wanting. Thesestudents are the generation that have grown in the information era in which wonders oftechnology and internet and unrestricted flow of information have been taken for granted. This isthe student generation who have sprung from the age of mass consumerism and a free“democracy”. In this modern era, there is no clear enemy facing them.

But do not let this fact dissuade us from the issue at hand. These supposedly apatheticstudents still retain the very essence of student leadership and activism. One can only look at theScrap the Pork movement and the Million People March to see this in action. Various studentsfrom the University and even youth from high schools participated in this show of democraticrights to prove that they remain aware of the issues plaguing the nation and the stakes involved.These are the very same youth who have been dismissed for being out of touch and yet there theywere.

The question now facing us is where we went wrong that we have failed to tap thesestudents. I believe that the game changer here was the use of social media and an active mediacampaign supporting the more recent call for actions. It is not by accident that the successfulMillion People March have been organized on Facebook or that modern student activism isdependent upon various information technologies and social media. These students have grownup along with the development of various social media trends and I believe that it is here where

the Office of the Student Regent should capitalize upon so that it can carry out its goal of servingthe people and representing the vast multitudes of the UP System.

I believe that activism is now “outdated” to the modern scholars due to lack of appeal anda failure in properly presenting our achievements. It is not merely enough to be featured on massmedia but it is now necessary to grow the needed social rapport so to speak as to be “trending”on social media sites. Instead of looking at this as a supposed weakness in our current system, weshould instead look at it as an opening to break the stranglehold that mass media holds on ourconstituents. Through social media, we are able to present our views and platform and tackleissues on a more equal stage.

In addition, it can also be utilized to break the notion that our activism is divided andmerely full of vitriol. By engaging students on social media, it allows us to break the supposedbarrier between activist and “non-activist” students and gives us a chance to engage them andinclude them in our activities and other mass movements.

An opportunity also exists in other information technology such as websites andelectronic media. The current system of selecting the Student Regent is often a controversialissue with discussions ranging from the Codified Rules on Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) tothe actual voting procedure itself. A way of resolving this conflict would be a directdemocratization of the selection itself by allowing for an electronic voting across the UP Systemto deregulate the complicated set of procedures that have been built up around the selection.Consider that UP Diliman conducts its elections through electronic voting, it is not infeasible thata similar open source system be built up across the UP Campuses and allow participation fromall students.

In addition, we can now directly engage our stakeholders by organizing what I term as aRegent’s Petition, a website in which students can submit petitions to the OSR on issues that theybelieve require the attention of their Student Regent. This would be akin to United States’ WhiteHouse Petition site which allows its citizens to submit their concerns which would be acted uponor at least replied to when a certain threshold of people who have signed along have beenreached. In our case, it is more prudent for us to act and respond when at least 5000 studentshave signed on a petition.

Furthermore, we encourage the development of transparency and accountability bydeveloping a set-up preferably online similar to Freedom of Information Act that would allowany student, faculty or even the public to demand documents from the University and itsunderlying offices and including the OSR to allow our stakeholders and the public to ascertainour performance and responsibility.

Beyond the University, it is also important that we encourage the Universityadministration and the national government to develop and further ties with the Department ofScience and Technology as this is where the coup de grace to our problem lies. For true nationaldevelopment to occur, it is necessary that the country develops its own technology sector whichwould encourage the development of national industries and technologically skilled labor. The

resolution of country’s problem with national growth lies in a development of a national industrythat can only spring forth from the cultivation of home grown science and talent.

Thru this, we are able to go develop and strengthen further the middle class base by theirelevation from poverty that will provide the strength through which we will be able to exactstructural reforms and changes not only in the University but in the nation overall. It is onlythrough the emergence of a stronger and more empowered middle class that we will be able touplift and enforce the rights of the poor and the marginalized.

Lastly, the OSR must remain committed to the principle of state funded and supportededucation and repeal of repressive administrative of the University including the SocializedTuition System. It must continue to remain the link between the students and the public at handand allow the scholars to be a venue for national development.

The Office of Student Regent must never lose track of its goal which is to represent thestudent-scholars of the University of the Philippines System and ultimately, serve the people.