In a unity statement released on Tuesday, July 27, the councils slammed the government's promise with the "change is coming" slogan as it only brought the country into "the most inhumane form of violence."
The University's Central Student Council (CSC), along with the Local Student Councils (LSCs) demanded accountability from the government for the atrocities it has committed during the past five years.
"Never again shall we falter from injustice," the student councils said in a statement.
"Within the first year of his term in office, this priority had turned the most inhumane form of violence by starting an all out war against the poor, the indigenous people, the oppressed and exploited Filipino masses – a peaceful life that is far from the number of dead bodies throughout his Presidency," they added.
The councils also emphasized the continuous harassment and threats of the government against human rights activists and progressive groups amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the E.O. 70 or the Whole of the Nation Approach and the rise of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Last May, youth groups including the College Editors Guild of the Philippines filed complaints to the Commission on Human Rights and the National Bureau of Investigation against the government's red-tagging scheme that included documented attacks against students and activists.
Along with the continuous harassment, they also criticized the administration's "misplaced priorities and futile policies" with the Rice Tariffication Law, TRAIN Law, contractualization, and the ABS-CBN shutdown, which "failed the Filipinos again with misplaced priorities and futile policies" that heavily affected the lives of the Filipinos.
"These are just some of the horrible and fascist policies the administration either pursued, failed to pursue, or promulgated,"
With the health crisis that struck the country, the councils highlighted how the administration's lack of COVID-19 response — a surge of COVID-19 cases, a poor healthcare system, unending lockdowns, gave rise to problems in the economy and education sector of the country.
"These acts reflected the situation of our economy, with unemployment and underemployment on the rise, businesses struggling to stay afloat, and a looming poverty rate," they said.
"The administration's poor pandemic response also affected the situation of the education sector, prompting the rise of out-of-school youth, and the devastating quality of education – the lifeblood of our nation's future," they added.
According to the Department of Education, for the enrollment period of school year 2020-2021, the number of enrollees in both public and private schools was only 21,344,915, which represents 76 percent of the population of the previous school year 2019-2020.
They concluded their statement by urging the Thomasian community to remember these actions and to never surrender by amplifying their voices and living out duties for the nation.
"May the past five years of the Duterte Administration serve as a reminder for us to speak our voices, raise our fists, and fight for the people." the councils said.
Last July 27, the CSC and LSCs also joined the Tumindig online protest by posting "tumindig" avatars to encourage the thomasian community and Filipinos to take courage to dissent.
The final State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Duterte was aired last Monday, July 26 which lasted for almost three hours.
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Aldaba was a known student-leader since his senior high school years in the University. He was the Interim Executive Vice President of the Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) in the previous academic year.
Photo courtesy of Francis Oliver Aldaba
Francis Justine Aldaba, a fourth-year student from the College of Education, passed away on Friday, Jan. 14, after succumbing to acute respiratory failure. He was 23.
He died at Premiere Medical Center in Nueva Ecija at exactly 9:50 in the morning, his brother Francis Oliver Aldaba told TomasinoWeb.
Aldaba was a known student-leader since his senior high school years in the University where he took up Health Allied as his strand. His involvement started as the Executive Assistant to the Chief-of-Staff in the Central Student Council.
He was the Interim Executive Vice President of the Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) in the previous academic year. Prior to this, he was also the Executive Associate to the SOCC Executive Vice President.
Describing Aldaba, Rome Voltaire Gomez, former interim president and chief executive officer of SOCC, told TomasinoWeb he was "a visionary, driven, and hardworking leader."
"Justine was a great help to SOCC in assisting grievances of recognized Student Organizations," he said.
Gomez, in a social media post, said: "Justine was family to the CSC/SOCC family and me. He was a strong person and a kind soul."
"We ask for your prayers in this time for him and his family. We will certainly miss him, and in all things, we will fondly remember him. Our family may never be complete again for now, but we will always be one in spirit," he added.
The funeral service is currently held at Funeraria Corone Memorial Chapel, T. Delos Santos, Science City of Muñoz. The internment details are yet to be announced.
The poet was one of the most widely read Filipino authors in the English language, with works that have been translated into 28 different languages.
Justine Xyrah Rennzel Garcia
Photo courtesy of People Asia
National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José passed away on Thursday night, Jan. 6, at the age of 97.
The poet died in his sleep at the Makati Medical Center where he was confined earlier for a scheduled angioplasty, according to his wife, Tessie Jovellanos José.
Hours before his death, José wrote a letter for his "brave heart." A letter which now constitutes his final words.
"Thank you brave heart. There are times when as an agnostic I doubt the presence of an almighty and loving God. But dear brave heart you are here to disprove this illusion, to do away with the conclusion that if you doubt Him, you kill Him. I cannot kill you dear heart; you have to do that yourself," José wrote in a Facebook post.
"For 97 years you have been constantly working patiently pumping much more efficiently and longer than most machines. Of course, I know that a book lasts long too, as the libraries have shown, books that have lived more than 300 years. Now, that I am here in waiting for an angioplasty, I hope that you will survive it and I with it, so that I will be able to continue what I have been doing with so much energy that only you have been able to give. Thank you dear brave heart and dear Lord for this most precious gift," he added.
Before becoming a National Artist, José studied Litt. B. Journalism at the old Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University.
He also became the editor-in-chief of The Varsitarian in 1948 and 1949.
José earned five Carlos Palanca awards throughout his writing career.
He also received recognition from award-giving bodies, which include the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1980, Cultural Center of the Philippines' Centennial Award in 1999, as well as the Pablo Neruda Centennial Award in Chile in 2004.
In his later years, José made headlines because of his support for President Rodrigo Duterte and the ABS-CBN shutdown.
He was also remembered to have criticized Maria Ressa for winning the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize saying that the Rappler chief did not deserve the award and there were no threats on press freedom because the "Philippine press is alive and well."
José was named National Artist for Literature in 2001 because of his great contribution to Philippine literature.
The details of the National Artist's wake is yet to be announced.
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40 out of 102 Thomasians passed the December 2021 Certified Public Accountant Licensure Exam, posting a 39.22 percent passing rate.
The University recorded a 39.22 percent passing rate in the December 2021 Certified Public Accountant Licensure Exam (CPALE) where 40 out of 102 Thomasians passed.
This was lower than the University's 57.69 percent passing rate last October where 15 out of 26 Thomasians qualified.
In an announcement by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) on Wednesday, Dec. 29, 318 out of 1, 454 or 21.87 percent of examinees from Metro Manila passed.
PRC also did not release any list of topnotchers and top-performing schools, which means that no examinees or schools qualified.
The CPALE in Metro Manila was rescheduled from October to December due to the extension of General Community Quarantine Alert Level 4 in the region. Meanwhile, the October 2021 CPALE was conducted for the examinees outside Metro Manila.