The UP Junior Marketing Association (JMA) drew public backlash after multiple social media accounts brought to light a list of “dares” presented to the organization’s applicants and members as part of a “committee wars” within JMA.
The dares are a list of tasks that the members and applicants may do during their traditional committee wars or comm wars. The list of tasks promoted harmful, sexually explicit, and humiliating behaviors among members and applicants.
In a public statement released on Tuesday, JMA acknowledged the said dares, adding that their members or applicants are not obliged to participate in the activities that range from sexually explicit to outright humiliation. JMA is now undergoing internal reforms, including the circulation of a grievance form and “support for affected members,” among others.
In a Collegian interview, a current JMA member said that even though the dares would not figure in the applicant’s grade, the dares, nonetheless, have a bearing on how members would assess an applicant’s character.
“Some applicants [ay] nag de-defer [na] o hindi [na] sila sumasali, kasi hindi nila nagustuhan yung comm wars. Mga ibang committee members [ay] nag-vo-voice [out] din kaso, hindi ganun karami, kaya go with the flow na lang din sila,” the member said.
On Sunday, a document listing 50 of these so-called dares was posted on Reddit, prompting a swift condemnation by various social media users. Student Regent Iya Trinidad said those dares were tantamount to “hazing.”
“I still fail to understand the necessity to make applicants do dares just to get into an org,” Trinidad wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Honestly, to anyone planning on joining orgs, kung gusto kayong ipahiya o kaya mag-commit ng kung ano-ano sa app process, don’t even apply anymore.”
Some of the acts in the list of documents included photographing oneself licking the pavement, shouting at a traffic enforcer, and pranking an Ikot driver.
Various members, former members, and students who tried to apply to JMA attested to the toxic practices that the organization has perpetrated for years already. A current member of JMA, whose identity has been withheld for his safety, said the public revelation of the dares could possibly spur the organization to rectify.
“I think without external scrutiny, hindi naman magbabago yung JMA internally. Engraved na kasi yung comm wars sa culture ng JMA,” he said.
As a result of the backlash, JMA said it would stop the internal committee wars immediately. The organization also relinquished its role as one of the night handlers in the UP Fair 2024 after claiming that it would shift its focus to internal rectification.
JMA was initially named as one of the night handlers for UP Fair: Cosmos, in partnership with Bahaghari UP Diliman (UPD) and Gabriela Youth UPD. Their night was supposed to champion women and gender advocacy. This morning, Bahaghari UPD blasted JMA, while expressing their desire for a new night handler that will be “a true ally capable of forwarding gender and women’s advocacy.”
Under the 2012 UP Diliman Student Code, officers and members of an organization who are involved in any hazing incident may be expelled from the university, if found guilty.
Per the 2018 Anti-Hazing Law, hazing is defined as “any activity, intentionally made or otherwise, by one person alone or acting with others, that tends to humiliate or embarrass, degrade, abuse, or endanger, by requiring a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member to do menial, silly, or foolish tasks.”
The Collegian has reached out to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the Office of Student Projects and Activities for their comments. Both offices have not yet responded as of writing.
“No spaces are safe if the people who claim to work toward it do not abide by the principles it entails. We demand that UP JMA exercise accountability to the highest degree,” UP Babaylan wrote in its statement. ●
With a report from Frenzel Julianne Cleofe.
