26/10/2025
๐๐๐๐| ๐๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐๐๐
Student leaders of the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) held a press conference for the campaign to stop and review the Return Service Agreement (RSA) at the Office of the University Registrar (OUR) compound on October 25.
Broadcast live on the UP Manila University Student Council (UPM USC) page, the leaders emphasized that the anti-student contract served as a band-aid solution to the problems of the healthcare system, unemployment, job mismatch, and brain drain.
College of Public Health Student Council (CPHSC) Chairperson Joram Manio discussed the inadequate minimum wage of medical professionals in the Philippines, such as medical technologists, which is insufficient to meet decent living conditions. They emphasized that requiring a payback will be a huge debt for students, despite their right to education.
"Kailan ba dapat magkaroon ng presyo ang edukasyon?" Manio asked.
Despite previous efforts to advocate for a pro-student RSA, only a few proposed revisions were approved by the administration in the previous writeshop, which can only be considered โtactical wins.โ
Following the RSA Committeeโs strategic planning, the administration will hold a Writeshop on October 27 and 28 to finalize the proposed RSA revisions. Student leaders aim to assert the studentsโ voice in the committee and to submit a position paper detailing why the provisions are repressive to the student body, according to UPM USC Chairperson Rain Nordin.
Among the proposed revisions that they plan to fight for are:
- Increasing the number of student representatives in the RSA committee;
- Standardizing the academic unit requirements for all UPM colleges under the RSA, and
- Allowing students to directly pursue the Doctor of Medicine program without first completing RSA service obligations.
Fellow student leaders echoed the calls, including 42nd UP Student Regent third nominee Alec Miranda, College of Medicine (CM) Representative to the USC Mark Angelo Del Rosario, and Kabataan Partylist Representative of the Students Assembly on the RSA, Querobin Acsibar, who encouraged the student body to join general assemblies and mass actions in support of revising the RSA to achieve โgenuine victories,โ and fight for a free, accessible, and quality education.
Student leaders will continue to demand a breakdown of collections from the RSA payback collections, calling for justice, transparency, and accountability from the UP administration.
โ๏ธ: Marinella Nicolle Cansilao
๐ท: Arkin Yeshua Aznar
