Last Thursday, on May 4, UP ALYANSA and STAND UP faced off in The Official UPD Political Parties Forum, Over the following days, SINAG will take a look back at how the two parties talked about their principles and policies as they vie for the student body’s support in the upcoming Student Council Elections.
In tonight’s first rewind, we look back at how the parties introduced themselves and their fundamental principles.
UP ALYANSA
UP ALYANSA calls itself a “dynamic leadership and service formation,” that strives for students’ rights and welfare as well as social justice and development. They hold on to four key principles, fitting into the acronym PASS: Progressive Multi-Perspective Activism, Academic Excellence, Student Empowerment, and Social Justice and Social Progress.
The party-alliance says that Progressive Multi-Perspective Activism is a basic recognition that society’s problems are multifaceted, and need to be addressed through all perspectives. “It doesn’t mean na we take all of the perspectives in the entire nation,” they said, clarifying a common criticism of PMPA, ‘it means that we take the perspectives of the marginalized, kasi sila ang naapaektuhan sa ating lipunan.”
Alongside this, UP ALYANSA highlighted the importance of academic excellence, saying that UP students have an obligation to the masses whose taxes pay for our education. They say that this obligation is to bring theory into practice by going beyond the classroom.
Third, they say that Student Empowerment is vital. “Through democractic participation, we are able to create that change through student empowermen,” the party-alliance stated.
Finally, they say that their goal will always be Social Justice and Social Progress. For UP ALYANSA, one must first attain social justice before social progress is possible, because we cannot move forward while leaving others behind.
STAND UP
The Student Alliance for the Advancement of Nationalism and Democracy says that, as an organization dedicated to an alternative form of mass-based education, they uphold five principles: the right to education, Nationalist Scientific and Mass-Oriented educational system alternative, militancy in advancing democratic rights and welfare, integration with other sectors in society, and principled unity and consensus.
STAND UP says that the party is held together by recognizing one fact: that education is a right. They say that education, as a right that helps us realize and access our other rights, will uplift the nation and hence must be guaranteed to everyone.
This education, they say, is not just any education: it must be Nationalist, Scientific, and Mass-Oriented (NSMO) instead of the current education system. They claim that the current profit-oriented system is “Colonial, Commercialized, and Anti-Democratic,” and that it only seeks to turn students into cheap and exploitable labor.
The party-alliance also believes that in pursuit of this alternative, they must be militant. Miltancy, they explained, “means being uncompromising in working to meet our objectives, efficient in the execution of well-designed strategies, and exhaustive fo all possible tactics.”
Moreover, STAND UP says that, in forwarding an alternative mass-oriented education, the youth must integrate with other sectors. Pointing to mobilizations for workers’ rights on Mayo Uno and against PUV phaseout during the transport strike, they said that students must realize that their issues are not separate from society’s basic sectors.
Finally, they say that their party believes in “Principled Unity and Consensus.” They say that while members are free to disagree on certain issues, they all hold on to certain basic principles. Moreover, they say that their party believes that their discussions must achieve general agreement and consensus through tireless dialogue, instead of merely accepting compromise positions.
