INCUMBENT officers of the Central Student Council (CSC) were not consulted prior to the release of the revised 2026 Student Handbook, two executive board officers for Academic Year (AY) 2026-2027 told the Varsitarian.
CSC President Annie Agon said the council at the helm in AY 2024-2025 were only asked for recommendations on revisions to the 2018 version of the handbook.
No drafts were later circulated for comments and no meetings about the revision were called, student leaders said.
“During that time in 2025, pinaaral lang ‘yung 2018 version and nag-ask for recommendations,” Agon said.
(At that time in 2025, they asked to review the 2018 version and make recommendations.)
Agon was the public relations officer in AY 2024-2025 under the CSC leadership of council secretary Meckia Villanueva, who served as acting president due to vacancies in key posts.
Incumbent CSC Secretary Clarence Mindo also said the AY 2026-2026 CSC officers were not consulted on revisions to the student handbook.
“I can’t recall [if] there was any, not within the time I assumed office, or any prior knowledge of consultations conducted…Annie confirmed this to us, [the] executive officers of the CSC, multiple times. Walang consultation itong bagong handbook,” he said.
(I can’t recall if there was any, not within the time I assumed office, or any prior knowledge of consultations conducted…Annie confirmed this to us, the executive officers of CSC, multiple times. There were no consultations for the new handbook.)
According to Mindo, the copy of the revised student handbook was not even formally sent to the council.
“We have yet to arduously read and review the revised handbook if indeed it was for the better,” Mindo said.
Agon said the CSC Executive Board and the Central Board, the council’s legislative and policymaking arm, were in talks over how to approach the revisions.
The Varsitarian reached out to the Office for Student Affairs for comment but it has yet to respond as of posting time.
Concerns raised
Mindo said that the lack of consultation with the student body prior to the handbook’s release “raises questions” about its intent.
“The act of excluding the student council or any student representation in this matter raises questions over the intent of the amended handbook, especially the Policies, Procedures, and Standards (PPS), which are oftentimes cited in disciplinary cases,” he said.
For Karl Nicolas, president of the College of Science Student Council, the release of the student handbook without consultation was disappointing.
“Nakakadismaya na ang tinatawag nating ‘student’ handbook ay gawa ng mga taong hindi man lang kumunsulta sa mga taong nakakaranas paano maging estudyante ngayon,” he told the Varsitarian.
(It is disappointing that the so-called “student” handbook was drafted by those who didn’t consult with the people experiencing how it is to be a student.)
Nicolas said the increase in the dropping fee of courses and withdrawal fee for freshmen was prohibitive.
“Hindi lahat ng tao ay kayang bayaran ang ganitong kalaking bayad para lang mag-withdraw. Paano kung kinakailangan palang lumipat sa mas murang institusyon ng estudyante?” he said.
(Not all people can pay a large amount of money for the withdrawal fee. What if the student needs to transfer to a less expensive university?)
Students who drop before classes begin will now be charged P10,000, twice the previous P5,000, while the withdrawal fee has ballooned to P10,000 from P1,500.
“Hindi sinasabi na kailangan estudyante ang magdikta ng mga probisyon sa student handbook, pero sana ay maging konsultatibo ito dahil dapat ay para sa lahat ito,” Nicolas said.
(We are not saying that students should dictate the provisions in the student handbook, but we hope that it will become consultative because it should for all.)
Student activist and philosophy student Raven Racelis described the revision of the student handbook without consultation as “administrative decision-making followed by student notification.”
“The process (of revising the handbook without consultation) reproduces the very problem that students have been criticizing for years: the University makes rules for students without giving students a meaningful role in determining those rules,” she said in a Facebook post.
Racelis criticized the provision that states that joining unauthorized organizations, assemblies and rallies is punishable.
Racelis, along with other student activists, faces a complaint before the Student Welfare and Development Board, as a result of their confrontation with Philippine Air Force personnel during an exhibit on April 21.
“A student handbook should not simply tell students what they cannot do. It should first recognize what students have the right to do,” she said.
The 2026 student handbook now explicitly coveres online conduct, details disciplinary processes and appeals, and complies with new laws on sexual harassment and “safe spaces.”
Last revised in 2018, the handbook details academic and administrative processes, students’ rights and responsibilities, and rules on conduct and discipline.
