tuition increase « Victor Villanueva

Posts tagged with tuition increase

March 1, 2011

Youth protest against price hikes (February 28, 2011)

Some four to five hundred students from various schools and universities, and out of school youths from different communities in Metro Manila trooped to Mendiola this afternoon to demand that the government take action to protect the youth and the people from another wave of tuition hikes that’s happening alongside spiraling prices of basic commodities, public utilities and social services, from train fares to electricity rates. These are happening in the context of massive unemployment and poverty and stunted minimim wages.

Manila youth protest against tuition hikes and other price hikes

Kabataan Party-List Rep. Palatino at Manila youth rally

WHAT CAN THE PRESIDENT DO
The usual hecklers and Malacañang apologists claim that the President has no power to control prices, as these are at the mercy of “free market” forces. Remedial solutions, however, are well within the powers of the President. With regard to tuition increases, for example, the President only has to order the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to exercise their regulatory powers and regulate the implementation of tuition hikes in schools and universities across the country, if not impose a moratorium altogether. The Price Act (Republic Act 7581) allows him to put a price cap on basic necessities. He can suspend the collection of VAT especially on oil products and electricity. He can order the audit of profits and stocks of oil companies to stop its overpricing (by as much as P8.00 per liter) by private profiteers. He can withdraw the implementation of fare hikes in Metro Manila’s mass transit railways, and the toll hikes in the highways as these are well within the regulatory powers of the Government on public utilities and services.

Truly, a government that willingly refuses to wield its police power to provide the people relief from the onslaught of price hikes has no business telling them they can’t expect any wage hike. With P404.00 a day as minimum wage in Metro Manila, how do you expect a family of six to survive when the cost of living for such a family in the capital is P957.00 a day? (Un-updated estimate of cost of living, might be beyond P1,000.00 today).

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June 16, 2010

First day of school

More than two hundred youths from different universities and communities in Metro Manila marched yesterday, June 15, 2010, to the gates of Malacanang to protest the worsening crisis in education

Yesterday was the first day of classes for most schools, colleges and universities in the country. As millions flocked to their respective campuses, more than 8 million of our fellow Filipino youths and children will not even get to step inside a classroom. This marks one of the highest number of out-of-school youth in our nation’s modern history.

In Gloria Arroyo’s nine years in office, the nation has experienced budget cuts in education, tuition and other fee increases left and right and as mentioned, the highest out-of-school and drop-out rates in years.

Despite the constitutional guarantee that education is a right of each and every Filipino, going to school has increasingly been such a financial burden to millions of Filipino families, if they can get in a school at all. Even public elementary and high schools, with up to 61,343 in classroom shortage and 54,060 in teacher shortage, cannot accommodate all Filipino children, nor can they provide the kind and quality of education needed for national development. The Department of Education itself declared that there are as many as 5.6 million out-of-school children.

The students were able to squeeze past through the barbed wire barricades of Mendiola and march to Gate 7 of the Presidential Palace

The nation’s public universities, on the other hand, has been suffering budget cuts almost every year forcing them to extract tuition and other fees from their students and forcing them to sell resources which would otherwise have served their constituents. The Philippines actually has the lowest percentage of youths studying in state universities. In other countries, state universities and colleges accommodate majority of college-age youths. In the Philippines, we force them to either enroll in private institutions with steep tuition rates, or to not enter college at all.

While our parents’ wages have been stunted for decades, the government has allowed tuition rates in private schools and public universities to escalate. It has in fact almost doubled since Gloria Arroyo became President. In 2001, the national average cost per unit in colleges and universities was at P257.41. In 2010, it has almost doubled to P501.22. In Metro Manila where most of the country’s colleges and universities are located, it is worse. From P439.59 per unit in 2001 it has ballooned to P980.54 per unit in 2010. These don’t even take into account the long list miscellaneous fees being implemented by schools, which hide the real cost of education.

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March 31, 2010

Opportunist Roxas claims victory where he did nothing

Roxas never even posted a Twitter or Facebook message to support the students. Mar Roxas photo from Wikipedia

In an unprecedented press release, the office of Senator Manuel Roxas II claimed that it was because of the Senator, and current vice-presidential candidate, why the almost 2,000% tuition hike in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines was shelved. If that was not insulting enough, he dismissed and belittled the students who fought against the proposal by describing them simply as “unruly” the same way the perfumed gatekeepers of “civility” have been demonizing their militant actions.

Mr. Roxas never spoke up against the proposal to increase tuition in the largest state university of the country. In fact, in his entire career as a senator, a congressman and an economist, he has been tolerating and promoting the liberalization of education in the country which has lead to the increasing commercialization and privatization of our state universities and colleges.

Ka Satur Ocampo personally went to the PUP Sta. Mesa campus to deliver words of solidarity to protesting students. He had just come from COMELEC after filing a disqualification case against presidential son Mikey Arroyo who is running for Congress under a fraudulent party-list

Only senatorial candidate and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo and fellow senatorial candidate and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza also spoke up against the tuition increase and linked it to the Arroyo government’s policy of state abandonment of higher education. Only Satur Ocampo went to the PUP campus in Sta. Mesa to join the protests of the students. That same day, he went to visit the Manila Police District HQ to boost the morale of the detained students, charged with trumped up cases of robbery after attempting to bring their dilapidated chairs to the Commission on Higher Education to show the sorry state of their school.

Notwithstanding lack of sleep from an entire day of campaigning, Ka Satur proceeded to the Manila Police District HQ to support and boost the morale of the PUP student leaders detained for protesting against the tuition hike. Ka Satur was once also detained in the same precinct for fighting the abuses of the Arroyo government.

Among the presidential candidates, only Bangon Pilipinas bet Eddie Villanueva spoke up in support of the student protests against the tuition hike in his alma mater. In fact, he also even went to the Manila Police District HQ to support the detained students and to deliver a message of solidarity to the protesting youths.

There was never a Mar Roxas.

Post-Script: This entry goes without saying that of course, Kabataan Partylist has from the beginning always been at the forefront of the campaign to stop the tuition increase in PUP and other state colleges and universities and of the campaign to increase state subsidy for education and other social services.

Also, a few days into the protests, senatorial candidate Adel Tamano issued a statement that he vows to push for the rechanneling of debt servicing payments to education by repealing the Automatic Appropriations Act that has burdened Filipinos with inadequate social services and increasing costs of education and health care.

Still, no Mar Roxas.

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March 27, 2010

Our freedom and our rights were not won with diplomacy

Anuman ang sabihin ng mga kontra-aktibista, wala nang ibang magpapatunay sa kawastuhan ng linya at pamamaraaan na tinahak ng mga estudyanteng nag-protesta laban sa tuition hike kung hindi ang mismong pag-atras at pagsuko ng CHED (Commission on Higher Education) at ng PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines) administration sa kanilang maitim na balak, at ang hindi pagkakatuloy sa paga-apruba ng mga bagong bayarin sa UP (University of the Philippines) nang dahil sa kolektibong pagkilos ng mga kabataan. The campaigns wouldn’t have been successful any other way.

To be clear, Kabataan Partylist, together with its founding organizations like the National Union of Students of the Philippines and its student leaders, have long pursued lobbying for greater state subsidy for education and holding dialogues against any attempt to hike tuition and other fees. We have always been ever mindful and aware, however, that it is militant and collective action that is decisive in winning our democratic fights. The government never granted us our rights on a silver platter, after all, especially when it is equally determined to pursue its selfish agenda, without any genuine intention to listen to the demands of its constituents. True enough, students had to barricade Quezon Hall, bring down the gates of CHED’s main office and throw paint bombs at its glass doors for these offices to bow down to the democratic interests of the people they were supposed to serve.

Nais kong ibalik ang tanong sa mga kontra-aktibista. Ano ba ang sinasabi ninyong mas mapayapa at mas epektibong paraan na hindi namin ginawa? Ginawa niyo ba ito?

Napakabilis ng pagkondena ng mga kontra-aktibista sa “marahas” na paraan na ginawa ng mga estudyante. Nasaan ang inyong pagkondena sa tuition increase na kung tutuusin ay mas marahas dahil sa pagkakait nito ng magandang kinabukasan sa libo-libong kabataan? Ni hindi ko narinig ni nakita miski sa isang Facebook status message ang pagtutol ninyo dito.

Is it that easy to forget, that throughout history, the freedom of nations, the rights of the people were never won with mere diplomacy. All of them were fought for by the people through street protests and bloody revolutions.

Today, five student leaders of PUP remain detained under the custody of the police for charges of of “robbery” filed against them by the shamed PUP administration. These students were among the hundreds who tried to bring to the gates of CHED their dilapidated desks as a sign of protest against the state’s abandonment of education. Samantala, patuloy pa rin ang sistematikong pagnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan, ang pagakakait sa mamamayan ng karapatan sa serbisyong panlipunan, at ang pinakamadugas na magnanakaw ay nasa Malacanang.

(Students will still gather and hold a protest action on March 29, 2010 at the Board of Regents meeting of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines at a posh bayside hotel in Manila, to ensure that CHED and the PUP administration hold true to their word that they will not increase tuition in the nation’s largest state university.)

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March 22, 2010

Why candidates must take a stand on the PUP tuition hike crisis

Students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Manila walked out of their classes last Friday, March 19, 2010, to protest the impending implementation of the almost 2,000% tuition increase in the largest state university in the country. Agitated students set to flames decades-old and dilapidated armchairs to show their disgust and anger at the school administration and the government for its apparent state abandonment of higher education. PUP is one of the country’s 111 state universities and colleges, funded largely by the Philippine government to provide accessible tertiary education to young Filipinos.

PUP, at present, charges only P12 per unit from its students, the lowest among state-run schools, aside from various miscellaneous fees. The affordable rate of tuition makes the university accessible to more than 50,000 new students at any given year, many of whom come from families of ordinary wage earners, rank and file employees, overseas workers and peasants.

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March 20, 2010

PUP students protest proposed 2,000% tuition hike

Yesterday, hundreds of students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila walked out of their classes to protest the proposed almost 2,000% tuition hike in the largest state university in the country. Agitated students threw out dilapidated armchairs and desks from the balconies and piled them up in front of the main arts building. They even set them up in flames to show their disgust at the school administration and the government for its neoliberal policy of abandoning tertiary education in the country.

The Polytechnic University of the Philippines offers the lowest tuition rate in the country at P12 per unit (around a quarter US dollar). This affordable rate has made PUP accessible to the 50,000 Filipino children it accommodates every year in its numerous campuses across the archipelago. Many of the students are children of ordinary wage earners, rank and file employees, overseas workers and peasants.

When the University of the Philippines administration planned to raise its tuition by 300% in late 2006, we were afraid it would set a precedent that other state universities would use to justify similar tuition hikes as prescribed by the government’s foreign lenders, which was one of the reasons we vehemently opposed the move.

We were right. State college EARIST (Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science & Technology) increased its tuition a year later, using the UP situation as a justification. State universities have since then been imposing various dubiously-named fees as a result of budget cuts imposed by the government.

Overseas, foreign governments from Greece to the US are also cutting down on the budgets of their state universities and colleges and other social services in order to make do with decreasing government revenues and to accommodate gigantic debt payments to multinational lenders. Students have been confronting such attacks on their rights with forms of protests such as walk-outs. Students of state universities in California, for example, staged massive walk-outs last year, even going as far as barricading their schools in order to protest the budget cuts to be imposed by the state government.

Anti-student and pro-government formations have branded the PUP students as hooligans. The final message of the TV report on the protest, however, was succinct in addressing such accusations. “Mawasak na raw lahat ng gamit sa paaralan, huwag lang ang karapatan ng mamamayan sa edukasyon.” (In the first place, the chairs that were burned were those dilapidated ones that were already unusable). The students and the people have no other alternative but to fight for their rights.

Protests will continue throughout the next week leading to the March 29 PUP Board of Regents meeting that will decide on the tuition hike proposal. Let us support the campaign of the students of PUP. Let us join them in the streets as they fight for greater state subsidy for education. Ang laban nila ay hindi lang laban ng PUP, kung hindi laban ng lahat ng kabataan para sa karapatan sa edukasyon. Mabuhay ang mga iskolar ng bayan!

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May 22, 2009

Kabataan launches “˜Balik-Eskwela Hotlines’ for school opening complaints

Problems with illegal or sky-rocketing fees, poor facilities and other enrolment-related issues? Contact the “˜Kabataan Balik-Eskwela Hotlines.’

“We want to provide hotlines and means for students, parents and even our teachers where they can forward their complaints on unnecessary and exorbitant fees, poor facilities, and other enrolment and school-opening related issues,” said Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino.

“The complaints we will gather will be collated, investigated and be brought to concerned agencies for them to immediately address. This is our way of empowering our students by giving them venues to air their concerns this school opening,” Palatino said.

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May 18, 2009

Ranks of dropouts to swell due to school fee hikes

Tuition rate doubled under Arroyo admin – Kabataan

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino today warned that the number of students who would opt to drop out from school will increase dramatically this school opening due to tuition and school fee hikes.

According to Palatino, the yearly dropout rate is a cause for alarm and something that DepEd’s Brigada Balik-Eskwela and the government should immediately address.

Based on 2008 data from the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), out of 100 grade 1 pupils, only 66 finish grade 6 equivalent to a 44 percent dropout rate, 58 enroll in first year high school or an 8 percent dropout rate, 43 finish high school or a 15 percent dropout rate, 23 enroll in college or a 20 percent dropout rate, and only 14 graduate from college or a nine percent dropout rate.

“With the current crisis and the continued lack of government response, we can expect these figures to go up this coming school year. The Arroyo government has made education less accessible to Filipinos. The enrollment rate has been in a steady decline under the Arroyo administration,” said Palatino.

Palatino said that from 1995-2002, enrollment grew at a rate of 1.98 percent but has dropped to 0.97 percent since 2003 to 2007. “We expect this figure to drop dramatically this year due to incessant tuition and school fee hikes imposed during this time of severe economic crisis,” Palatino said.

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April 19, 2009

CHED is spineless, Malacanang lied

130 private schools hike tuition, SUCs raise school fees

Kabataang Pinoy today criticized the Commission on Higher Education as 130 tertiary schools across the country revealed tuition hikes for the next school year. According to CHEd, the schools are reported to have asked an increase in their tuitions by 5, 7 or 10 percent.

“It now appears that CHEd’s earlier appeal for a freeze in tuition hikes is really just lip service and downright insincere,” said Kabataang Pinoy Spokesperon Alvin Peters. Peters is also currently the national president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, spearhead of the Tuition Monitor Hotline.

“We have documented these increases as early as February, during tuition consultations, when our hotlines buzzed with complaints from students everywhere. We brought them to CHEd’s attention but they neglected to act on our complaints and instead just came up with a bogus appeal for a tuition freeze to downplay student protests,” Peters said.

Peters said that they have submitted to CHEd a critique of CHEd Memorandum No. 13, the existing guideline for tuition increase consultations, pointing out its flaws and inadequacy to regulate tuition. He said that they have also repeatedly requested for dialogues with CHEd with regard to “˜bogus consultations’ where students were either not informed of consultations or were “˜tricked’ by school administrators into agreeing to proposals without due process.’

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July 16, 2008

July 10 Nationwide Youth Walkout

[Photos above, and some below, are from here (Tim Medrano) and here (Jonna Baldres)]

Last Thursday, July 10, 2008, thousands of students across the country walked out of their classes to protest the Arroyo administration’s willfull refusal at implementing genuine reforms and changes in government policies that would alleviate the lives of millions of Filipino youth and their families in light of soaring prices of oil, food and other basic commodities, and a worsening crisis in the education sector.

In the University of the Philippines, where students, especially those in their first and second years, are beset with a tuition increase and new laboratory fees, half a thousand students joined the simultaneous programs held at various points in campus which culminated in a demonstration at Palma Hall at noon.

In the morning, I was at the program in the College of Arts & Letters (CAL) atrium, with Airah, a colleague in the University Student Council, the CAL Student Council and members of other mass organizations inviting students to join the nationwide walkout. Before it hit noon, we held a snake rally around CAL and marched to Palma Hall to join hundreds of other UP students in a demonstration at Palma Hall Steps. We then marched to the University Avenue, where another brief program was held while we barricaded the road. By past two in the afternoon, more than a dozen jeepneys packed with UP students proceeded to Espana in Manila to join other Metro Manila students in protest.