National Union of Students of the Philippines

ATENEANS, WALK OUT FOR JUSTICE! WALK OUT FOR †RENE AND †DIVINE!

The National Union of Students of the Philippines stand with the Atenean community in calling for justice for †Rene and †Divine. We are one with †Rene and †Divine’s loved ones during this time of grief and loss.

Amid the unending questions faced by the Ateneo administration, students and the whole community must collectively stand in calling for truth and accountability. Moreover, we must unite to change a rotten education system where students are forced to sell their talents and skills in the name of profit and prestige.

Ateneo, protect your students! Face accountability! Stop selling our future!

JOIN THE WALKOUT!
19 June 2026 | 1:00 PM

ON FRIDAY, WE WALK OUT FOR RENE AND DIVINE.

Amid our collective grief, the Ateneo is in a great period of reckoning. As the community and the loved ones of Rene and Divine reel from this insurmountable loss, it is incumbent on this very institution to face accountability in all forms and subject itself to the calls for renewal from the broader community to which it is answerable.

As we continue to grieve the tragic loss of our fellow Ateneans, questions remain unanswered, and justice remains out of reach. On Friday, we call on our fellow students, our esteemed faculty and staff, to walk out in solidarity with the bereaved families of Rene and Divine, and echo the resounding call for justice, accountability, and clarity from the administration.

📌 June 19 | 1:00PM

𝗡𝗨𝗦𝗣 𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗬: "𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘇𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗲."

The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) Panay strongly condemns the use of the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U) Miag-ao Campus as a designated landing and evacuation site for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) during the conduct of the ITDOex military exercise in the Municipality of Miag-ao.

Our schools are zones of peace and must never be used as military bases, camps, or staging grounds, whether for training exercises or real-world operations. As civilian institutions, campuses must remain entirely free from any form of military presence.

​Using educational campuses for military training and housing personnel is a direct violation of international and domestic frameworks. This deployment is entirely inconsistent with Rules 22 through 24 of International Humanitarian Law and other global treaties that strictly restrict the military use of schools. Furthermore, Republic Act 7610, also known as the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, explicitly mandates that public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and rural health units shall not be utilized for military purposes such as command posts, barracks, detachments, and supply depots.

​In light of this, we call on our school administrations to fiercely safeguard the rights, safety, and welfare of the students by preventing any further entry of armed forces within our academic spaces. We must defend our democratic spaces and keep military operations out of our schools.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT | KEN CAYANAN AND JALIANA SABANDAL APPOINTED AS NUSP NATIONAL DIRECTORS

In the face of worsening political and economic crises, student unionism continues to persist.

The National Union of Students of the Philippines - National Executive Board (NUSP NEB) proudly announces the appointment of Ken Cayanan as National Director for Campaigns and Advocacies and Jaliana Sabandal as National Director for Membership, affirmed during the NUSP NEB convening on 16 June 2026.

Prior to their appointments, Ken served as De La Salle University - University Student Government Legislative Assembly’s Chief Legislator and Chairperson of the Committee on National Affairs. Likewise, Jaliana served as Central Mindanao University - Supreme Student Council’s President and Student Regent.

We extend our full confidence as they take on this responsibility in strengthening the patriotic, democratic, and progressive movement of Filipino students.

PATRIYOTIKO, DEMOKRATIKO, PROGRESIBO! NUSP!

JUSTICE FOR RENE AND DIVINE!

We offer our deepest condolences to the families of Rene Clert Baterbonia and Divine Adili, student-athletes from the Ateneo de Manila University Basketball Team. Young people should be able to pursue their dreams for themselves and their families without having to pay with their lives.

The rotten system in our society has molded an education system that treats education not as a basic service but as a commodity, pushing young people like Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adli to go through the eye of a needle just to finish their studies and lift their families out of poverty. Meanwhile, institutions that are supposed to safeguard and ensure access to quality education merely allow these conditions to persist, instead of expanding opportunities for the youth.

The case of these two young athletes also reflects the story of thousands of youth from distant provinces who come from ordinary families struggling to make ends meet because of low wages and insecure employment. This compels young people to dream big while at the same time forcing them to realize at an early age that they must leave their households and the communities they grew up in simply to secure a better future.

This is the reality under a colonial, commercialized, and repressive education system. The strength, talent, intelligence, and potential of the youth are merely exploited to serve the demands of a system that does not even intend to serve them, but rather only benefits the ruling elite and those who already hold wealth and power. This affirms a cycle where young people are pressured to work harder, strive further, and undergo great sacrifices, yet the rewards for their labor are disproportionately accumulated by those at the top. Instead of becoming instruments of hope for the nation that drives genuine social change, the youth are merely reduced to machineries used to maintain and sustain unequal order.

NUSP joins the call of the Ateneo community in calling for justice for Rene and Divine. Furthermore, transparency in investigation is not enough if institutions themselves have failed to protect the likes of Rene and Divine. As such, we enjoin our fellow students in exposing and ultimately resisting the rotten system of education that takes lives of the youth. Our schools must not put profit and prestige over the lives of their students; lives cannot be replaced.

We call for justice, accountability, and transparency from the Ateneo administration and hold all liable officials accountable. But more than this, we will continue to fight for an education system that no longer burdens, even kills, the youth.

HANDS OFF SR RASHELA BALLESTEROS!

On June 12, Independence Day, the CLSU University Supreme Student Council received reports that two unidentified men were looking for Student Regent Rashela Ballesteros among university employees. The men were also looking for Cairo Sandoval, campus press journalist of CLSU Collegian, Eyu Bartolome, chairperson of Anakbayan Nueva Ecija, and Loi Matias of Unity of Leaders and Students for the Advancement of Democratic Students Rights and Welfare.

NUSP vehemently condemns this attack to student-leaders of CLSU. The youth of Nueva Ecija and Central Luzon have long been subject to the surveillance, intimidation, harassment, and red-tagging of the AFP, PNP, and NTF-ELCAC. Meanwhile, the CLSU administration sustains cooperation and allows the presence of armed forces of the state within the university.

An attack on SR Rashela is an attack on the rights and welfare of every CLSUan. SR Rashela is still yet to hold her oath as USSC Chairperson and Student Regent, yet she has already been subject to state attacks. With the continuing series of fascist attacks against student regents, student council officers, and even student leaders outside institutions, the state is clearly showing its desperation to silence the ever-growing movement of the youth.

We call on the CLSU administration to ensure the protection of their students’ rights and welfare amid such attacks and cut all ties and association with state forces, for their presence in our universities only means a threat to the rights of students to express, organize, and mobilize.

The youth will not be silenced and continue to fight, for under this rotten system, we will continue to have a reason to.

‎‎
‎
‎

‎ALERT!
‎
‎HANDS OFF OUR STUDENT REGENT! HANDS OFF RASHELA!
‎
‎Hinahanap ng dalawang hindi kilalang lalaki sa mga empleyado ng CLSU ang kauupong Chairperson ng University Supreme Student Council (USSC) at Student Regent ng pamantasan na si Rashela Ballesteros, kahapon, ika-12 ng Hunyo, 2026.
‎
‎Kasama sa ipinagtatanong ng mga nasabing lalaki ay sina Cairo Sandoval, tagapangulo ng Independent Campus Journalists’ Union for Press Freedom (ICJUPF) at mamamahayag ng CLSU Collegian, si Eyu Bartolome, kasalukuyang tagapangulo ng Anakbayan Nueva Ecija, at si Loi Matias na mula sa Unity of Leaders and Students for the Advancement of Democratic Students Rights and Welfare o USAd-DSRW.
‎
‎Mariing kinukundena ng USSC ang harassment sa ating mga empleyado at sa paniniktik sa ating Student Regent at Chairperson na si Rashela Ballesteros!
‎
‎Ang pag-atake sa ating mga kapwa mag-aaral ay pag-atake sa ating lahat! Sina Rashela, Eyu, Loi, at Cairo ay mga kabataang nagsusumikap para sa ganap na tunay na libreng edukasyon, malayang pamamahayag, at masugid na tagapagtanggol ng mga inaapi at pinagsasamantalahan.
‎
‎Ang pag-atake sa pinakamataas na kinatawan ng mahigit 15,000 mag-aaral ng CLSU ay pag-atake sa buong hanay ng masang mag-aaral sa pamantasan!
‎
‎Ang pag-atake sa Student Regent ay pag-atake sa Students Rights and Welfare ng masang estudyante ng CLSU!
‎
‎Mula taong 2024, patuloy na nire-redtag, sinasarbeylans, hinaharas, at pinagbabantaan sina Eyu Bartolome, Cairo Sandoval, at Loi Matias, at ang kanilang mga kaibigan at pamilya, ng pinagsamang pwersa ng AFP, PNP, NTF-ELCAC, at maski ng mga pwersa ng pamantasan.
‎
‎Samantala, bago pa man makapanumpa bilang Chairperson ng USSC at Student Regent, si Rashela Ballesteros, siya ay naging biktima na ng harassment ng mga pwersa ng estado. Siya ay pinuntahan mismo sa kaniyang tinitirhan at ipinagtanong ang kanyang kinaroroonan, ang kanyang kinabibilangang mga organisasyon, at kung sino ang kaniyang mga nakakasama. Ang mga ito ay malinaw na paniniktik ng estado at porma ng pananakot at pagpapatahimik sa ating lider-estudyante.
‎
‎Ilang araw pa lamang nang magsimula ang panibagong academic year sa CLSU ay mayroon nang kasong muli ng mga pasistang atake ng estado laban sa mga demokratikong karapatan ng mga kabataan. Tahasang niyuyurak ang ating karapatang mag-organisa, magpahayag, at tumugon sa krisis na kinahaharap ng mga estudyante at mamamayan.
‎
‎Walang ibang nararapat na tugon ang mga mag-aaral ng CLSU kundi ang higit na pagpapatibay ng ating hanay upang labanan at kundenahin ang panunupil ng estado maski ang pagsasantabi at kawalang-kibo ng administrasyon sa mga kaso ng redtagging at harassment sa kaniyang mga estudyante. Kagyat nating ilantad at tutulan ang likas na reaksyunaryong katangian ng estado, at isulong ang isang pamantasang malaya sa takot at pananakot. Bahagi rin ng ating tungkulin ang harapin ang mga pangunahing suliranin ng lipunang Pilipino sa pamamagitan ng walang humpay na pakikibaka.
‎
‎Nararapat lamang na magkaisa ang mga estudyante at buong komunidad ng CLSU upang tutulan ang lahat ng pananamantala at pagpapahirap gayundin ang mga pagtatangka ng estado na patahimikin ang masang nakikibaka!
‎
‎Kaugnay nito, hinihiling ng USSC sa administrasyon ng CLSU na tuparin ang kanilang tungkulin at siguruhin ang tuwirang pangangalaga sa kapakanan at kaligtasan ng mga mag-aaral, gayundin ng mga empleyado at buong komunidad ng pamantasan.
‎
‎
‎
‎

KABATAAN, IPAGLABAN ANG TUNAY NA KALAYAAN! ✊🏻🇵🇭

Sa loob ng 128 na taon, hindi tunay na malaya ang Pilipinas mula sa kamay at kapangyarihan ng imperyalistang Estados Unidos. Sa sektor ng edukasyon, namamayagpag pa rin hanggang sa kasalukuyan ang pagiging neoliberal nito.

Kolonyal ang sistemang pang-edukasyon dahil ginagawa lamang nitong produkto ang mga estudyante para magsilbi sa interes ng ibang bayan sa murang paggawa. Komersyalisado dahil ginagawang negosyo ang edukasyon kung saan nagbabayad ang kabataang Pilipino para lang matuto. At nananatiling represibo ang mga polisiya sa loob ng mga paaralan dahil takot ang rehimeng US-Marcos-Duterte sa mga kabataang lumalaban.

Alam ng mga kabataan na walang tunay na kalayaan sa isang bansang tuta at sunud-sunuran sa mga dayuhan.

Kaya naman, sama-sama nating ipaglaban ang tunay na kalayaan! Ipaglaban ang karapatan sa edukasyon ng mga kabataan!

12 June 2026 | 9:00 AM
TM Kalaw cor. Taft Ave., Manila

TOMORROW WE WEAR BLACK.

In grief and solidarity, we enjoin the Ateneo community to WEAR BLACK tomorrow to honor the lives of our fellow Blue Eagles, Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili.

As we honor their memory, we also continue to heed the call of their families, friends, and loved ones for justice, truth, and accountability. Let us come together as one community in expressing our desire for clarity.

Beyond wearing a color in honor of them, we hope that we will eventually be able to honor their lives by embodying an institutional commitment to safety and care for each member of our community, especially for our student-athletes.