Student councils from all over the UP System on Saturday agreed to the extension of incumbent Student Regent Renee Co’s term until the end of the academic year, allowing her term to synchronize with that of the student councils.
Co was selected as the 38th student regent last January 2021, succeeding former Student Regent Isaac Punzalan, whose term was also extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The student regent is the sole representative of all UP students in the UP Board of Regents, the university's highest governing body.
The General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC), in an emergency convention, unanimously approved the resolution to extend Co’s until the next student regent selection. Per the resolution, the 53rd GASC will select the next student regent before the first semester of AY 2022-2023. The call for nominations will begin next semester.
The resolution seeks to prevent the selection of student regents every second semester which might prompt the disruption of student-led campaigns in the middle of an academic year. Originally, student regents are elected before an academic year begins.
Co, a law student, said that although extending her term may become a hindrance to her academics, she is still willing to serve until the 53rd GASC convenes sometime in the middle of 2022.
“I think with the proficiency and sufficient knowledge of the related underpinnings, SR Renee Co is very crucial to the continuation of our campaigns,” the UP Diliman University Student council manifested.
Meanwhile, UP Los Baños College of Development Communication Student Council noted that the student regent has the capacity to campaign for pro-student and pro-people policies. “What matters in the holdover term is that the [Office of the Student Regent] is able to sustain the momentum in leading campaigns for the national elections,” they stated.
Apart from the term extension, the student council also adopted three more resolutions on academic freedom, the possibility of an onground GASC convention, and safe reopening of classes.
The second resolution stemmed from the unilateral abrogation of the 1989 UP-DND accord last January. The accord seeks to restrict military presence on campus especially without the presence of imminent threats or emergencies.
In supporting the institutionalization of the UP-DND Accord, the student councils believe that the student body along with the student regent should commit to the protection of academic freedom, and condemn all forms of red-tagging and harassment from state forces.
The GASC also passed a resolution regarding the conduct of an onground 52nd GASC. The last face-to-face GASC occurred last January 2020 in UP Los Baños. Meanwhile, the last resolution passed by the body clamored for increased financial assistance for students who will participate in the limited physical classes next semester.
Student councils will once again convene for the 52nd GASC by February 2022. ●
