UP Cinema Arts Society - UP CAST

01/05/2026

At the heart of the Filipino ecosystem, one that drives the daily living of our people, are our workers. The individuals that wake up every morning, afternoon, and night to pour out their blood, sweat, and tears in order to provide service to others, and sustenance for their families. As students of film, we acknowledge the lifeblood that comprises our, and every, industry that is our workers. Without them, the country would not function at all. So, it is an utter show of dehumanization that for decades, our workers have had their rights and wages stripped down, leaving them to continue negotiating and fighting for what belongs to them.

DOLE has recently announced that they will not pursue a hike of minimum wage by Mayo Uno, in spite of a push for it in the midst of a mounting oil and general resource crisis caused by tensions between America and the Middle East, resulting in higher prices for goods everywhere. This occurs in the same month that multiple transport groups have announced numerous transport strikes in response to higher rates for fuel, affecting their income. The employees of Kowloon House in Quezon City have also mounted a strike after the refusal of their requested increase in wage amidst exploitative workplace practices. After 6 days, they succeeded in achieving that additional hike and the return of excess charges, truly proving the value and effectiveness of collective action.

These specific instances are just one of many where workers have had to make their voices heard, and today, we must not only remember and commemorate their efforts, but to join their continuing pursuit in making their rightful demands be heard. Even as the ones in power continue to actively muffle and drown out voices through media censorship, blackout, trolls, and even inhumane force, the words and sentiments of the Filipino workers will never fade. No longer should their hard-earned money line the pockets of the rich through illicit means. No longer should they toll painfully to merely get what should be theirs in the first place: to be valued and viewed as people making a living.

NO TO WORKPLACE EXPLOITATION.
YES TO HIGHER WAGES.
THE WORKERS OF THE COUNTRY WILL ALWAYS BE UNITED.

Sources:
• AlterMidya []. (2026, April 20). ‘TAGUMPAY ANG WELGA. Twitter. https://x.com/altermidya/status/2046229195408441747?s=20

• Cabantac, Theo Anthony. “Piston, Manibela Stage Nationwide Strikes over Fuel Prices.” Daily Tribune, 20 Apr. 2026, tribune.net.ph/2026/04/20/piston-manibela-stage-nationwide-strikes-over-fuel-prices.

• Gutoman, Dominic. “Kowloon House Workers Strike vs Management’s Insistence on ‘pittance’ Wage Hike.” Bulatlat, 17 Apr. 2026, www.bulatlat.com/2026/04/17/kowloon-house-workers-strike-vs-managements-insistence-on-pittance-wage-hike/.

• Pechay, Isabelle. “Dole: No Minimum Wage Hike for May 1 - News.” INQUIRER, 2 Apr. 2026, newsinfo.inquirer.net/2205502/dole-no-minimum-wage-hike-for-may-1.

24/04/2026

JUSTICE FOR ALYSSA ALANO! DEFEND STUDENT LEADERS!

On April 19, in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, forces from the 79th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines launched an operation that left 19 individuals dead in a clash that has led to the evacuation of 653 people from 168 households in the barangay. Among those slain by state forces was Alyssa Alano, a BA Political Science student of UP Diliman, the Education and Research councilor of the University Student Council, a selfless student leader and staunch anti-imperialist, a champion of the oppressed rural peasantry, a friend, a daughter, and a true Iskolar ng Bayan.

The UP Cinema Arts Society stands in full condemnation of this massacre together with the broad ranks of youth who continue to stand for the principles Alyssa upheld with her whole being. We stand with every friend and family now left to grieve what the AFP took from them without warning, warrant, or shame. What happened in Brgy. Salamanca was a brazen human rights violation that contravenes the principles of international humanitarian law. The AFP’s purported objective of combatting “red terrorists” in the province ignores the brutal reality of the systematic issues of landlessness and poverty that has afflicted peasants in our country for centuries. Through efforts exemplified in Alyssa’s brave outreach, these perennially underserved communities found a voice that stood up for them, now silenced by the merciless resolve of the Philippine state.

Under Memorandum Order 32, which placed the province of Negros under a so-called “State of Lawless Violence,” the AFP has done nothing but terrorize the very people it claims to protect. When the ones pointing guns at you are the ones sworn to protect you, where exactly are you supposed to run?

The AFP’s running streak of human rights violations throughout the country, in Negros, Nueva Vizcaya, Mindoro, and Davao del Norte, demonstrate an institutionalized policy of terror directed against organized progressive sectors of society. It is the Marcos Jr. government showing us time and time again whose side it is on- the ones who have always fed on the suffering of the people while waving a flag over it, claiming to be saviors. This is a betrayal of International Humanitarian Law. It is a betrayal of every principle the AFP swore to uphold.

Alyssa Alano was not a terrorist. She was not a fighter of the New People’s Army. This fact has already been corroborated by the Communist Party of the Philippines themselves, a group known for valorizing its martyrs who willingly give their lives to their cause. Alyssa was in Tobosa to organize the disadvantaged peasant community there, a community which has long looked for a voice to articulate the struggles of their everyday lives as farmers on land they have tilled for generations but which they do not own. She was and will always be remembered as a genuine servant-leader, an activist, and a champion of the oppressed masses.

In the face of this blatant violation, we refuse to look away. We refuse to be silent. We won’t let Alyssa’s death be buried under communist-tagging and the usual machinery of mockery and silence. We will turn our grief into clarity, our fury into action. We organize, we speak up, and we show up because the rotten system that killed her remains standing, and it will keep killing until we make it stop.

UP CAST extends its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of Alyssa, UPOU alumnus Maureen Keil Santuyo, community journalist RJ Ledesma, Errol Wendell and to all other innocent lives lost.

In the face of a relentless and fanatical disinformation campaign, we at UP CAST wholeheartedly stand with our fellow Iska. The progressive movement, and the broad underserved masses they represent do not deserve the wanton butchering the state metes out to them. We believe that the deathly cycle of violence that has haunted our society for so long can only end by listening to the critical voices they continually silence, such as Alyssa.

Defend student leaders.
Defend the people.
Junk MO 32.

23/04/2026

Nakikiramay ang kabuoan ng UP Cinema Arts Society sa pagkawala ni Alyssa Alano na walang awang pinaslang ng 79th Infantry Battalion ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Higit naming tinututulan ang patuloy na pagpapaslang ng pasistang gobyerno sa mga kapatid natin sa Negros, pati na rin sa mga aktibistang patuloy na lumalaban para sa mga magsasakang Negrense.

Hustisya para kay Alyssa Alano!
Uphold International Humanitarian Law!
Militar sa Kanayunan, Palayasin!
Inutang na Dugo ng Pasistang Rehimen, Singilin, Singilin, Pagbayarin!

STATEMENT

Noong Abril 19, walang habas na pinaulanan ng bala ng 79th Infantry Batallion ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ang Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental kung saan halos 168 na pamilya at 653 na mga indibidwal ang napilitang magbakwit sa kanilang mga tahanan.

Kaugnay nito, ibinabalita ng UP Diliman University Student Council na isa sa mga nasawi ang ating kapwa Iskolar ng Bayan na si USC Councilor Alyssa Alano dahil sa pasistang atake at panunupil ng militar sa Negros.

Mariing kinukundena ng UP Diliman USC ang ginawang pagpatay ng AFP kay Alyssa na isang inosenteng sibilyan.

Lubos ding tinututulan ng UP Diliman USC ang karumaldumal at paulit-ulit na paglabag ng reaksyunaryong gobyerno at ng kanilang mga mersenaryo sa karapatang pantao ng mamamayan ng Negros at maging sa mga aktibistang sumasandig sa laban ng masang api.

Sa kasalukuyan, si Councilor Alano ang Education and Research Councilor ng USC UP Diliman.

Nakipamuhay at nakipag-aralan si Alyssa sa hanay ng mga kapatid nating magsasaka mula sa Negros upang alamin ang kanilang tunay na kalagayan sa harap ng pangangamkam sa lupa, pagsasamantala, at militarisasyon.

Nananatili ang Negros bilang isa sa mga rehiyong may pinakamatinding militarisasyon at paglabag ng karapatang pantao. Pinaigting ng Memorandum Order 32, na naglagay sa Negros sa “State of Lawless Violence”, ang pagtaas ng presensya at operasyong militar sa rehiyon.

Walang habas ang mga mersenaryo sa pangangamkam ng lupa at pananamantala. Tumitindi ang pandarahas, pandadakip, at pagpatay ng mga magsasakang Negrense.

Nakita at naintindihan ni Councilor Alano ang kahalagahan sa paggamit ng kaniyang talino at lakas upang ipaglaban ang mga karapatan ng mga estudyante at batayang sektor, lalo sa pagtindi ng krisis sa ekonomiya.

Si Alyssa ay naging isang mahusay, masikhay, mapagmahal, at dakilang lider-estudyante at tunay na anak ng bayan.

Nagluluksa ang konseho at buong komunidad ng UP sa pagkawala ni Alyssa. Mahigpit ding nakikiramay ang konseho sa kanyang mga naiwang pamilya, kaibigan, at mahal sa buhay.

Buong tapang at buong pusong tinanggap ni Alyssa ang hamon sa bawat Iskolar ng Bayan–ang paglingkuran ang sambayanan. Hinding-hindi natin siya malilimutan.

Nalulungkot ang buong konseho sa pangyayari, ngunit higit dito, pinipili ng UP Diliman USC na buong tapang at buong tatag na ipagpatuloy ang laban para sa hustisyang panlipunan at katarungan para sa lahat ng biktima ng pasismo ng kasalukuyang nabubulok na estado.

Hangga’t hindi nabibigyan ng solusyon ang ugat ng kahirapan, marami pa ang katulad ni Alyssa na handang pag-aralan ang lipunan at magiging handang ipaglaban ang isang lipunang malaya sa pagsasamantala. Hinding-hindi mapuputol ang diwa ni Alano sa malawak na hanay ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan na pahihigpitin pa lalo ang pagkakaisa para tuluyang magapi ang isang sistema ng lipunang mapang-api at mapagsamantala.

Iskolar ng Bayan, ipagpatuloy natin ang militanteng diwa ni Alyssa Alano!

Tumindig tayo, kasama ang bawat Iskolar ng Bayan, komunidad ng UP, at mamamayang Pilipino para sa tunay na kalayaan, katarungan, at hustisyang panlipunan!

Sumandig tayo sa laban ng mga magsasaka at lahat ng masang-api! Palakasin natin ang boses at pwersang yayanig sa sistemang mapang-api!

Alyssa, ang iyong buhay ay mananatiling isang maningning at matalas na tanglaw para sa bawat Iskolar ng Bayan, na patuloy na mangahas na makibaka at paglingkuran ang sambayanan!

Hustisya para kay Alyssa Alano!
Uphold International Humanitarian Law!
Militar sa Kanayunan, Palayasin!
Inutang na Dugo ng Pasistang Rehimen, Singilin, Singilin, Pagbayarin!

09/04/2026

In 1942, after Commonwealth forces fell to Imperial Japanese troops at Corregidor, thousands of Filipino and American prisoners of war endured severe brutality in the Bataan Death March. For ten days, they were forced to march over 100 kilometers from Mariveles, Bataan to Capas, Tarlac without rest and under threat of ex*****on. As we commemorate Araw ng Kagitingan this April 9, we remember the valor of those who resisted, those countless heroic servicemen at the outset of Japanese rule. The University of the Philippines Cinema Arts Society joins the Filipino nation in honoring their story.

Eighty-four years later, the legacy of the Death March still resonates as a reflection of the continuing struggles faced by Filipinos across all sectors of society. In the face of ongoing crises, recognition must be given to the toilers of our nation whose quiet acts of courage remain perennially ignored by the homogenizing narratives of our nationhood. The tenant farmer who cultivates his lord’s fields every day under the blazing sun. The contractual worker who endures exploitative wages and career uncertainty. The nurse who bears the weight of a deteriorating healthcare system. The public school teacher who faces the insurmountable task of educating a generation embattled by institutionalized learning poverty. The jeepney driver whose income he redirects to offset the impact of rising oil prices.

These lives, amongst many others, mark acts of resistance that continue to march and build amidst the systemic violence they face. This violence, beyond our own economic realities and legislative failings, also finds its roots in the long history of foreign imperialist influence and meddling in the Philippines. Today, the Filipino people bear the consequences of the actions taken by the Trump administration in the United States in their continued support for Israel's aggression against Iran, amongst other acts of war-mongering and interventionism. Our own governing body continues to lack the preparation and initiative needed to face an oil crisis that puts a commuter-heavy nation at great risk, to support its own people in trying times.

As an organization committed to fostering critical awareness of Filipino cinema, UP CAST unequivocally condemns these continuing forms of violence and heeds the call to bring to the fore marginalized narratives, to honor Filipinos whose struggles are often forgotten and ignored, recognizing its responsibility as filmmakers and media practitioners in shaping critical and counter-hegemonic discourse.
The heroism of Bataan lives not just in its stories, in narratives or documentaries that continue to weave its resistance into our collective memory. The act of creation, when made to amplify what is silenced, is an act of embodying this courage. Ordinary Filipinos, despite the everyday oppression they face, despite the failings of the heads we entrusted, persist in asserting their dignity and heroism. As we commemorate Araw ng Kagitingan, may we not only honor memories of heroism, but to live out, confront, and stand in solidarity with the struggles of those who fight for genuine liberation.

30/03/2026

𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝐈𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 & 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐬
by Clementine Cabaña

News cycles have a brutal habit of shrinking places into battlegrounds as countries are transformed into maps, cities turn into coordinates, and real human lives become mere headlines you scroll through before breakfast. 𝗖𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮, 𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻. Film has the power to refuse the flattening of the world that easily.

This Women’s Month, as the news fills with images of Iran and the wider West Asia caught again in the machinery of war, it is imperative that we return to the women who live inside those places. Iranian and Palestinian cinema has long been filled with women who quietly hold the world together: daughters growing up in political upheaval, girls pushing against absurd restrictions, women refusing to let history silence them.

Here are Iranian and Palestinian films that serve as a necessary reminder that resistance takes on many forms, and it most definitely takes on the form of a woman choosing to speak, to drive, to love, or just to exist in a world that would rather erase her.

𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐌𝐒
— The Day I Became A Woman (2000) dir. Marzieh Meshkini
— Daughters of the Sun (2000) dir. Maryam Shahriar
— Persepolis (2007) dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

𝐏𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐌𝐒
— Salt of This Sea (2008) dir. Annemarie Jacir
— Farha (2021) dir. Darin J. Sallam
— 3000 Nights (2015) dir. Mai Masri





🎨: Sam Fransisco

26/03/2026

MGA ISKOLAR NG BAYAN, SUMAMA SA WELGA NG MAMAMAYAN!

Ilang araw na ang nakalipas magmula nang pumalo lampas sa hindi makatarungang halaga ang presyo ng langis. Kaakibat nito, nagpapatuloy ang kawalan ng sapat na kabuhayan, at ang pagkakait ng karapatan sa mga batayang serbisyo para sa mga mamamayan.

Sa susunod na linggo, nagbabantang pumalo sa mahigit P140/L ang presyo ng Diesel. Sa halip na magkaroon ng karampatang tugon ang estado upang pagsilbihan at tugunan ang pangunahing interes ng mga tsuper at komyuter, tugon nito ay ang dagdag pahirap sa pasanin ng ordinaryong mamamayan sa pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin nang walang sapat na subsidyo upang matugunan ang matinding pagkalugi at kahirapan.

Pinahihintulutan din ng estado, sa pamamagitan ng Oil Deregulation Law, ang ganid ng mga pribadong kumpanya ng langis na magpataw ng malaking dagdag tubo sa petrolyo. Hawak pa rin ng Petron ang pinakamalaking kontrol sa merkado ng langis (i.e. 27.8% on oil demands), habang hawak ng iba pang kumpanya ang pangkabuuang daloy ng wagas na pagtaas ng preso ng petrolyo na siyang sukdulang nagpapahirap sa mga ordinaryong mamamayan.

Sa gitna ng matinding pagrurok ng krisis sa ekonomya at pulitika, mahigpit na nakikiisa ang mga Iskolar ng Bayan sa mas malawak na hanay ng mamamayan para ipanawagan ang pagpapanguna ng kapakanan ng mamamayan kaysa sa interes ng mga kurakot at ganid na mga negosyante. Sa partikular, nakikiisa ang UP Diliman University Student Council at ang iba’t ibang pormasyon sa UP Diliman sa mga sumusunod na mga panawagan:

1. Wakasan ang gerang agresyon ng US-Israel laban sa Iran!
2. Itaas ang sahod at kita!
3. Kontrolin ang presyo ng langis at ng iba pang batayang produkto at serbisyo!
4. Presyo ibaba! VAT at excise sa langis, tanggalin!
5. Ayuda para sa mga mahihirap!
6. Ibasura ang Oil Deregulation Law at iba pang neoliberal na polisiya!

Hinog na hinog ang mga pagkakataon upang lumabas ang mga Iskolar ng Bayan at makiisa sa malawak na hanay ng mamamayan!

Sa laban ng tsuper, kasama ang komyuter!

1. UP Diliman University Student Council
2. UP Broadcasters’ Guild
3. UP College of Social Work and Community Development Student Council
4. UP Cinema
5. UP College of Human Kinetics Student Council
6. The UP Repertory Company
7. Sandigang Mag-aaral para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (SANDIGAN-NCPAG)
8. UP Speech Communication Association (UP SPECA)
9. UP Radio Circle (UPRC)
10. Sigma Delta Pi Sorority UP Diliman
11. UP Children’s Rights Advocates League
12. UP Anthropology Society
13. UP Journalism Club
14. UP Business Administration Council (UP BAC)
15. UP Lipunang Pangkasaysayan (UP LIKAS)
16. UP SINAGBAYAN
17. CMu CSO
18. UP Cinema Arts Society
19. UP Kabataang Pilosopo Tasyo
20. UP Diliman College of Social Sciences & Philosophy Student Council
21. UP Tau Lambda Alpha Sorority
22. UP Graphic Arts in Literature
23. UP Engineering Student Council
24. Agham Youth UP Diliman
25. National Graduate School of Engineering
26. UP NCPAG Student Council
27. UP Samahan Tungo sa Progresibong Administrasyon (UP STPA)
28. UP CMC Graduate Students Association
29. UP CMC FST Council
30. UPSLIS Student Council
31. Geographic Society of the University of the Philippines (UP GeogSoc)
32. COPE UP
33. UP College of Media and Communication Student Council
34. UP Ibalon
35. UP Association of Civil Engineering Students
36. UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP ALYANSA)
37. UPD College of Arts and Letters Student Council
38. UP Association of Computer Science Majors
39. Junior Philippine Geographical Society - UP Diliman (JPGS-UPD)
40. UP Economics Towards Consciousness
41. UP School of Statistics Student Council
42. Tinig ng Plaridel
43. UP Samahang Mag-aaral na Nagkakaisa (UP SAMANA)
44. UP Sigma Kappa Pi Fraternity
45. League of Filipino Students - CSSP
46. UP Circuit (UP CKT)
47. UP Manga-Anime Associates (UP MANIA)
48. UP Diliman Extension Programs in Pampanga and Olongapo Student Council
49. Practice of Administrative Leadership and Service - NCPAG
50. UP Asian Institute of Tourism Student Council (UP AITSC)
51. Pi Sigma Fraternity - UP Diliman
52. SALiGAN sa CSSP
53. UP Education Society
54. UP Architecture Forum
55. UP Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Society (UP MBBS)
56. UP Diliman School of Economics Student Council
57. Alliance of Concerned Teachers - Education Students UP Diliman
58. UP Communication Research Society
59. UP Diliman College of Education Student Council (UP Eduk SC)
60. UP Diliman College of Education FST Council (UP Eduk FSTC)
61. UP DOST Scholars’ Association (UP DOST SA)
62. UP Association of Chemistry Majors and Enthusiasts
63. UP Bukluran sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino (UP Buklod-Isip)
64. UP Industrial Engineering Club
65. Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino - UP Diliman (KATRIBU - UPD)
66. Architectural Students’ Association of the Philippines - UP Chapter (ASAPHIL-UP)
67. UP Diliman College of Home Economics FST Council (UPD CHE FSTC)
68. UP Engineering Radio Guild
69. UP Circle of Industrial Engineering Majors
70. Rise for Education Alliance College of Science (R4E-CS)
71. UP Academic League of Chemical Engineering Students, Inc. (UP ALCHEMES)

24/03/2026

24/03/2026