Realizing Roles: Of Acrophobia and Vertigo

   (photo from: josephduque.blogspot.com)

Iskolar ng bayan: there is much more to this laconic mantra than a statement printed on proverbial maroon t-shirts, jackets, lanyards, button pins and other UP merchandise. After all, school slogans are more than just wittily-strung words aimed at merchandising and profiteering – at least not entirely – they are the verbal quintessence of philosophies, values and beliefs.

The above statement (iskolar ng bayan) has thrived almost as long as the university itself and has proven to be the unanimous choice to be representative of the UP culture and way of life. But in recent years, there has a risen a challenger to the previously undisputed slogan – enter iskolar para sa bayan (scholars for the people). The latter was instigated and is still being fervently promoted by incumbent UPLB chancellor Luis Rey Velasco. Along with his approval of the large class policy and the subsequent admission of more freshmen each semester, he has managed to stir up some attention; enough attention to make him eligible to vie for the presidential seat of the entire UP system.

Is it indeed time for our beloved university to shed its old skin, take on a new one and move forward? For an institution as national as UP, a slogan change entails not only phrasal shift but both a semantic and a paradigm shift as well. At first look, the proposed change is admittedly catchy and fitting to the Oblation spirit of the university, but upon closer inspection, one can easily point out chinks in its flimsy armor.

The slogan iskolar para sa bayan encapsulates the university’s sense of national servitude, the Oblation’s open-armed offering of himself to the people – that about sums up all the arguments supporting the statement. Yes, it is not incorrect to say that we should be scholars for the people, as we members of the university should offer ourselves to the country that nurtured our scholarship, furthermore our very existence. However, to say that it best embodies the UP philosophy is a bit of a stretch to say the least.

On the other hand, iskolar ng bayan is the polar opposite of iskolar para sa bayan when it comes to face value, or shall we just call it first impression. At first, one will say that we are scholars of the people because and only because of the simple fact that the people, their taxes to be more specific, pay for our education. Setting aside the recent issues regarding the lessening of state subsidy that led to A.Y. 2007-2008’s exponential tuition fee increase that probably claimed the lives of some parents via heart attack and high blood pressure, we can still say that it is true that the state still pays for a fraction of our education costs. Compared to other branded universities that are at par with UP – or close to being at par, if you still stand by absolute UP supremacy – the average fees of 20,000php per semester do pale in comparison. So in a way it still can be avowed and agreed upon that we are scholars of the people, following the argument that taxpayer money pay for our education. But once again, a closer look will shed some new light and reveal another layer of truth.

We are part of the people not only because our birth certificates say so but more importantly because we, by heart and dedication, are a part of the Filipino people. This is a pronouncement that we all accept even before entering the hallowed halls of the university. To say that the scholars are for the people alienates the first from the latter and vice versa. When we say for, it is directed towards another body or entity. Does this not suggest a direct division between the scholars and the people? Are we scholars not part of the people, above everything else? In cutting our ties with the people, are we not defeating the very purpose of being scholars in the first place? By not being a part of the people, how are we supposed to be for them?

By virtue of chronology, we are all scholars of the people before we can even attempt to be scholars for the people. Here we see another level to the meaning of being of the people. As members of the people, we know of their situation, their plight, their long history of oppression. Without ever witnessing a gang war in the ghettoes of Tondo or people swimming in their own filth during a flood in Malabon, the outer circles of society are cut-off from the underbellies of reality. Are we to say that we supposed iskolars para sa bayan are part of the people from the outside looking in? Being a part of the people allows us integrate with the people, make our education relevant by studying the problems plaguing society and ideally, realize change.

In being iskolars para sa bayan, we are also tolerating the messianic complex that has been attached to being a UP student for a long time. In this scenario, the people are seemingly but stoic observers as we scholars work our way through four or more years of advance education in the hopes of eventually liberating them one day. The people are mere beneficiaries and recipients who in a way almost beg for our godly charity. Instead of being active participants in the process of change or shall we say liberation, they opt to lie face down and powerless while we come to the rescue. As condescending as these assertions sound, they all stem from the idea that a UP student is primarily for the people. The slogan iskolars para sa bayan places the UP student on a steep pedestal as opposed to being one with the masses.

Have we forgotten that the main reason that we are able to pursue our so-called academic excellence is because of the people? Is it not extremely ungrateful and self-serving to completely discard our debts to the people? Yes, it is a given that due to recent deductions in state subsidy, the fees we pay each year are substantially larger than in previous years. The implementation of the tuition fee increase has somehow lessened the impact of the feeling of indebtedness that an iskolar ng bayan carries. To say the least, the proposed slogan change tempers the tongues of students.

I would even go as far as saying that the shift is all part of a clever ploy to slowly teeter the isko and iskas from the fact that the budget that is supposed to be for education is being allocated somewhere else. It is all but a masterful feat in public relations and subliminal messaging to desensitize us students from the reality that we are being deprived of what we deserve. Basically, it tells us that it is ok for our parents to shoulder the enormous fees come enrollment time. Come to think of it, does it not provide all the more reason to fight for what is rightfully ours? As iskolars ng bayan, surely we are not strangers to oppression and repression.

With being of the people, comes being for the people. As we acknowledge their role in our education, we also acknowledge the role that we must play in order to shatter the rotten status quo. Henry Sy, Lucio Tan and other people like him do not pay for our education. It is those who barely scrape by to make a living everyday who do: security guards with eight children, old seamstresses with ill husbands – people like them. And so we must dedicate our being scholars to help lift the weight off their backs, the way they helped in lifting the ones from ours. It must be a give and take relationship: mutually benefiting and participating.

The word “scholar” traces its roots to the Greek word skhole which means “freed from the urgencies of the world”. We scholars are privileged enough to be “freed”, in the sense that we do not have to lay sweat and blood to make a living. We owe most of this liberation to the people who funded our “escape”. We must develop a sense of, not superhero complex, but social responsibility and accountability. As “free” men and women, yes, we have more opportunities, but let us not forget that these come with their respective responsibilities.

We are, foremost, iskolars ng bayan, part of the masses: smelling their sweat, feeling their pains, sharing their problems. We are instigators of change, not messiahs. We are prime movers of social transformation, not knights in shining armor. It is unfair, both for us and the rest of the people, that we be given the entire responsibility of liberating an entire nation. We must not be put on such high pedestals. Besides, some of us are afraid of heights.

(This was written in the heat of the "Iskolar ng Bayan vs Iskolar Para sa Bayan" debate, more than 3 years ago. I'm happy to discover that though my writing may have been fledgling (not that it's masterful now), at least it was impassioned. ABSOLUTELY NO EDITS. Even though I was cringing while rereading portions of it. I apologize for the overstatements. Still, I'd choose fire over technique 9 times out of 10.)