Five candidates for councilor positions from the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) have disaffiliated themselves from the party for the 2023 University Student Council (USC) elections.
Their decision came following a question on safe spaces and sexual harassment within STAND UP ranks yesterday during the Aktibisita forum organized by UP Political Society. Councilor bets Katrina Batac, Alvin Magno, Erwin Medina, Ian Mercene, and Charles Shi wrote that the points raised at the forum left them “shocked, saddened, and disturbed.” They will move forward as independent candidates.
“We do this to uphold the basic principles and values which the party alliance had taught us. These values remain true to us individually today and shall guide us as we continue our campaign,” they said in a statement published earlier this afternoon.
During the forum, representatives from STAND UP and UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP Alyansa) faced students’ questions on academic dishonesty, sexual harassment, and fraternity-related violence (FRV).
Former STAND UP chairperson and now unaffiliated member Froilan Cariaga, who also served as USC chairperson in 2020, alleged that the party was unable to provide a safe space for a victim of sexual harassment. He further accused the party of attempting to silence the survivor from making public statements to “preserve public image.”
“Labag na labag sa loob ng STAND UP na mag-kick out ng harraser kahit na yung biktima ay nawawalan na ng safe space sa organisasyon,” Cariaga said.
In the open forum, the red party was also scrutinized over its affiliation with fraternities.
Louise Espiña, STAND UP vice chairperson candidate, admitted that their party and slate include fraternity members. However, she denied the allegations that it was the reason they did not support the abolition of fraternities in the university.
“Nag-re-remain ang ganoong stance ng STAND sa pag-end ng FRV. Patuloy ang pag-form ng mechanism to hold people accountable,” Espiña said.
UP Alyansa countered that while their party is supported by and even included fraternity members before, they ultimately decided to remove them from the group with their supposed “zero-tolerance” policy on FRV.
But the more tell-tale sign of a fractured ruling party was when outgoing USC Vice Chairperson Shine Reyes called out the party’s stances on the recent storming of students in Quezon Hall, following Edgardo Carlo Vistan’s selection as the 12th UP Diliman chancellor.
“In your general assembly, you called us too militant and hindi raw dapat kami nanira ng gamit. Sinabi niyo na reformist ‘yung call [namin],” Reyes said during the forum, adding that she is already “unaffiliated.”
Neo Aison, STAND UP’s chairperson bet, said that the storming of Quezon Hall was unable to meet “quantitative requisites.” He said that as there were only 13 people who were able to pass through the gates, the challenge was to regroup instead of pushing forward.
STAND UP currently only has four councilor nominees left: Gaebrielle Abuel, Craig Navalta, John Neil Tumangan, and Mattheo Villanueva. It is unclear if the five candidates who backed out of the party will remain official candidates of STAND UP in the official ballots as there is no provision in the electoral code that deals with resignation of a candidate from their previous party.
Magno, Medina, and Shi were part of a mobilization commemorating the third anniversary of the ABS-CBN shutdown earlier at the College of Mass Communication. The three refused to answer questions from the Collegian when asked about their resignation from the party.
On May 16 to 20, students will elect a new set of student leaders that will serve for one academic year. They will succeed the STAND UP-dominated USC. ●
