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Filipino students push for Philippine Studies at Berkeley


BERKELEY, California - Filipino and Filipino-American students of the University of California (UC) in Berkeley continue to push for the establishment of Philippine Studies classes amid a budget crisis faced by the school. “We are now focusing on getting more Philippine classes while securing our current Tagalog classes," Lean Deleon said, referring to his group, the Committee for Philippine Studies (Compass). “We also plan to get a Philippine Studies teacher, which we hope can lead to a successful campaign of getting Philippine Studies on the Berkeley campus, and then to the other UCs," added Deleon, who is also one of 20 senators of the school’s student council, the Associated Students of the University of California.
Filipino and Filipino-American students join a recent protest rally at the University of California in Berkeley’s Sproul Hall Plaza to push for the inclusion of Philippine studies in the school curriculum. Marconi Calindas
On September 24, Compass joined over 5,000 UC students, faculty and staff in the mass walkout and protest held in the Berkeley campus. The rally, considered to be the biggest in California since the 1960s, was held in response to the recent actions by the UC Board of Regents, the 26-member panel that governs the system. The regents approved a plan last July that consisted of widespread lay-offs along with other budget cuts. A 32-percent tuition hike was also included in the plan. “Save Our University," the protesters cried, asserting their plight. Compass led the 800-Filipino student contingent during the rally, even performing a traditional Filipino tinikling dance on the campus’ famed Sproul Plaza, while other members held placards declaring the group’s opposition to the budget cuts and tuition increase. Deleon said the walkout was only the beginning of the movement to save public education, that “people are still continuing that dialogue so that the movement doesn’t die out till we start holding the UC Regents and administration accountable to the students and stop tuition increases." University of California President Mark Yudof reportedly announced a plan to increase student fees by $2,514 over the next year. “By next fall, the students will be paying at least $10,000 for tuition," Deleon said, adding that the lay-offs will also affect Filipino faculty and staff, whom he considers as the backbones of the university. Filipino students remain steadfast in the statewide battle for freer and fairer education, Deleon assured, for there is a significant number of Filipinos in California who might also benefit from their campaign. UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau blamed the United States’ economic recession for the cutbacks and fee increases, even saying that the layoffs have helped to save hundreds of jobs within the UC system. Birgeneau further blamed state legislators for the $813 million cut from the UC budget for 2008-2010. The chancellor, in a teleconference after the protest, said that he hopes the rally would raise the consciousness of Californians “so that they will vote for legislators that support public education." University of the Philippines (UP) professor Joi Barrios was also with the group during the rally, announcing that the unions of UP workers and academic employees have extended their support to the protest in Berkeley. Also a lecturer of Philippine Studies in Berkeley, Barrios presented her poem “Kampanile" in Filipino, discussing the state of education in the UC. Reading her verse in the local language stresses that Philippine Studies is also an important part of the UC curriculum. “The student of the State is not a student of the Regents," she said. UC campuses in Los Angeles and San Francisco also held rallies on September 24, simultaneous with the mass walkout in Berkeley. – with Melissa de los Santos, GMANews.TV
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