THE UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas is open to participating in future rallies against corruption as calls mount to punish those who benefited from the multi-billion peso flood control anomalies.
Several educational institutions, including UST, staged their walkouts and protest actions to express indignation over the flood mitigation projects fiasco, which had triggered a number of resignations in the executive branch and leadership shake-ups in Congress.
Various sectors of UST, which is prone to floods because of its location, held a solidarity night on Oct. 3 to condemn the irregularities, which have endangered the lives of people in hazardous areas. It was the Thomasian community’s first collective action on the issue.
Office for Student Affairs chief Asst. Prof. Jaezamie Ong, who represented the administration during the solidarity night, said UST would support and join future actions against anomalies as long as they do not threaten the safety of students.
“If there is a call and we believe in the call, why not? Of course we will do that,” Ong told The Flame.
The solidarity night took place four days after various student organizations led a walkout and rally at the Plaza Mayor to demand that the officials and contactors behind the flood control scandal be held to account.
UST faculty, personnel, students, alumni and administrators attended the solidarity night, which echoed calls for the Marcos administration to act on the alleged pocketing of billions from state flood control projects. It was organized by representatives from the University’s labor unions, student and alumni groups and the UST administration.
“UST has been here for centuries. We have already gone through a lot. We are still going through a lot and will still go through more. But we are always one. We are always together,” Ong said.
“It’s very important that the people outside the campus know what we want, know what we believe in.”
According to Ong, administrators have always been supportive of Thomasians’ calls for accountability against corruption and the lack of transparency and have been working alongside groups and sectors “behind the curtains.”
“We are never not present. We are always there. Maybe we are not seen in front, but we are always there,” she said.
UST Faculty Union (USTFU) President Asst. Prof. Emerito Gonzales said the University is ready to join other academic institutions in protesting corruption.
“Maybe one time, all universities here in U-Belt [will join], it is possible and I am very open to that,” he said.
In his latest State of the Nation Address, President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. ordered an investigation into the substandard and non-existent flood mitigation projects, saying corrupt officials and their accomplices should be ashamed for “stealing the future” of disaster victims.
The issue stirred further controversy when the contractors that bagged several contracts were linked to some members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
On Sept. 21, several groups, including parish-based and student organizations and labor unions flocked to EDSA and Luneta Park for the “Trillion Peso March” and the “Baha Sa Luneta” protests and to express outrage over the widespread irregularities in state projects.
Speaking as one
Gonzales saw the solidarity night as the University’s collective contribution to demanding accountability from the government.
“This is our contribution. A Thomasian contribution against corruption…It’s the very first time that there’s a political statement that we are as one university,” UST Faculty Union (USTFU) President Emerito Gonzales told The Flame.
“We don’t have a single voice where we are the whole community…So, it’s really a good opportunity that we finally have one.”
He added that the solidarity night also intends to denounce all persons who have fallen into the corrupt system, regardless of their affiliations.
“It can’t be hidden that there were Thomasians who were implicated…Everywhere, well, even if we remove the affiliation by university or what, corruption truly doesn’t choose,” Gonzales said.
For Arts and Letters Faculty Association President Assoc. Prof. Rene Luis Tadle, the solidarity night marked the creation of a unity statement crafted by all sectors of UST, from the administration, unions, and students to the alumni. This, he said, would sustain the call for the government, politicians and the public to take a stand.
“This is the first time it’s been like this…There is a statement where everybody contributed…That for me is significant,” Tadle said.
‘Failure of truth’
According to Gonzales, the siphoning off of billions from the building of protective infrastructure to the pockets of the corrupt is “not just an engineering failure, but a failure of truth.”
“The funds for the building of infrastructure to prevent or mitigate the rampage of nature is a matter of public trust. Yet, these ghost projects, substandard constructions, and the kickbacks taken by the government employees and politicians are cornerstones of lies, deceit and greed,” he said.
“We are not talking about cosmic truth, but the simple truth that these funds are meant for the protection of lives, not for the luxury of private and public individuals whose motives are far from the common good.”
Gonzales noted that humor and resilience often become the Filipinos’ typical response to crises or natural calamities. However, these values have become romanticized and now double as curses, he said.
Gonzales raised the need to reassess such values in light of the corruption scandals the country is currently facing.
“We have gotten used to pakikipagkapwa with our fellow workers, our neighbors, strangers we come across in our daily hustle, humans who toil like we do. All this while the presence of the greediest animals or the predator crocodiles of our most corrupt food chain,” the faculty union leader and Philosophy professor said.
Samahang Manggagawa-UST President Dan Paul Patricio called for lower taxes, saying the workers heavily shoulder the consequences of corruption.
“We, the workers of UST, are truly concerned about that. We keep paying our taxes and then it turns out it’s like that, it went to waste…As long as they see a large amount that can be stolen, even if you imprison all of them, the system won’t change,” Patricio told The Flame.
Meanwhile, Ugnayan ng mga Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng University of Santo Tomas Hospital President Donell Siazon expressed anger over the billions of pesos stolen through the flood control projects, as many health workers struggle to work abroad.
“Knowing again, that this is how much the government is corrupting our workers and health workers, it pains us even more that they are leaving their country and their families. It pains us even more to know that the government is pushing us to leave the country,” he said.
“Corruption is only a symptom of the grave illness of our country. That is why we must remain firm, comrades, and let our anger be felt by the government.” F
