Days before the selection of the next UP President, student councils and organizations from across the UP system condemned former UP Los Baños Chancellor Dr. Fernando Sanchez Jr.’s track record of anti-student policies as they unanimously rejected his bid for the UP Presidency.
After an emergency General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) yesterday, December 7, councils resolved to reject Sanchez’s nomination and endorsed UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo. The GASC expressed, “stands out among all the nominees in terms of stances, capacity, and track record.”
No More Chances, Sanchez
Student organizations, especially those from UP Los Baños, lambasted Sanchez’s candidacy, highlighting his bid for the presidency as unacceptable.
“Amid an educational crisis due to neoliberalism and a Marcos-Duterte administration, we need a UP President who will stand alongside the larger UP community and not the likes of Sanchez who will tolerate and proliferate totalitarian and anti-student policies,” said the UPLB University Student Council (USC) in a statement.
They shared that during his term, Sanchez denied the majority of over 600 Maximum Residency Rule and Readmission requests despite numerous appeals from student councils and institutions.
The UPLB USC further warned of Sanchez’s silence amidst state attacks against activists, even allowing military and police officers to hijack a lecture on campus and red-tag various progressive organizations and individuals.
They also cited his involvement in the junked Student Academic Information System (SAIS), his refusal to participate in dialogues, and an overall lack of compassion for students and employees alike.
During the pandemic, employees under Sanchez complained about his management, saying Sanchez issued memoranda that forced them to do more work while also enduring low wages and a lack of job security.
The No More Chances, Sanchez Coalition said that the UPLB community had already rejected him in his third bid for the chancellorship and that the wider UP community should do the same in his bid for the presidency.
Nemenzo: the “pro-student, pro-people” choice
Alongside their rejection of Sanchez, various student organizations have also urged the BOR to support Nemenzo’s bid, calling him the only qualified candidate among the six nominees
“The President must be militant and uncompromising in protecting and upholding the students’ rights and welfare of the people, especially in the looming crisis under the Marcos-Duterte Administration,” said the UP Diliman USC in their endorsement.
They said that Nemenzo embodied UP Diliman’s 8-point Student Agenda, which called for academic freedom, Ligtas na Balik Eskwela, accessible support services, a greater education budget, democratic rights, inclusive education, gender sensitivity, and press freedom.
In contrast to Sanchez’s history of silence amidst state attacks, the student organizations supporting Nemenzo highlighted his commitment to defending the University as a bastion of activism.
Kasama sa UP Chairperson and former UP Diliman USC Safety and Security Councilor Andrew Ronquillo said that the students have many points of unity with Nemenzo, especially with regard to academic freedom.
“He was there the day after the abrogation of the UP-DND Accord; when the cohorts of NTF-ELCAC intruded the University Avenue; when CHED Chair De Vera advised UP to be passive with the book purging; and when the community held a walkout on the electoral fraud by Marcos-Duterte,” Ronquillo said.
The organizations also praised Nemenzo’s openness to dialogue. According to them, throughout his chancellorship, he has listened to students’ calls and forwarded their interests.
“It is his willingness to struggle with the community that opens doors for us students to achieve our calls,” said the Rise for Education – UP Diliman in their manifesto for unity.
Various sectors in the university have also endorsed Nemenzo, including 63 National Artists, National Scientists, and UP Emeritus Professors.
Featured image courtesy of Jun Madrid
