Student protest mars House budget hearing

A student protest on Tuesday marred the House of Representatives deliberation on the proposed P1.6 trillion national budget for 2011. Inside the plenary hall of the House, some 15 members of the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) shouted “Edukasyon! Edukasyon!" as they unfurled a banner with the words: “Uphold our Right to Education! Stop SUC (State Universities and Colleges) Budget Cut." The session was suspended when the students staged a protest. House security personnel immediately accosted the rallyists and brought them outside the plenary. Interviewed by reporters as he was being escorted by House security personnel, student Einstein Recedes said,“Kung ang paglaban sa karapatan ng mamamayan at ng kabataan sa edukasyon ay isang krimen, guilty po kami!" (If fighting for the rights of the citizens and the youths to education is a crime then we are guilty!) One of the security personnel said they will not be filing any charges against the students. “Wala(ng kaso). Lalabas lang kami (No charges will be filed. We will just go outside)," said the unidentified security officer. No charges Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino and Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano went out of the chamber to see what happened to the students. Palatino believed the students will not be charged because the session was suspended when the protest was held. The congressman expressed support for the issues raised by the students. “Makatwiran naman ng ipinaglalaban nila higher budget for education. Very meaningful yan today dahil ngayon ay World Teachers’ Day (They are fighting for something just-- higher education budget. That is very meaningful because today is World Teachers' Day.) "Ang iginigiit lang naman nila ay wrong yung priorities ng ating new government na instead of expanding the CCT (conditional cash transfer) program, yung doleouts, foreign debts, military spending, why not spend it in education, especially higher education?" he asked. (They are only pointing out the wrong priorities of the new government. Instead of expanding the CCT program, the doleouts, foreign debts, military spending, why not spend it in education?) Palatino said his partylist wanted the government to maintain the 2010 level budget of the SUCs at the minimum and restore the capital outlay budget. “Yung cut sa MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) is P1.7 billion so nakaaapekto ito sa services ng SUCs (The MOOE is P1.7 billion so this affects the services of the SUCs)," Palatino said. Reduced budget The allocation for the country’s SUC’s in the proposed 2011 national budget has been reduced by 1.7 percent, from P23.8 billion in 2010 to only P23.4 billion next year. The proposed budget for 25 out of 112 SUCs has also been decreased by as much as 23.5 percent. The funds allotted for the University of the Philippines (UP), the country’s premier state university, with a population of 52,000, has been slashed by P1.39 billion or by 20.11 percent. On the other hand, the Philippine Normal University’s budget is reduced by P92 million cut or by 23.59 percent. Some P88 million has also been deducted from the budget of Bicol University cutting its budget by 18.82%. There is also a P1.1 billion or 28.16 percent decrease in the operations budget for SUCs. All but 15 SUC’s have cuts in their operating budgets (MOOE) some by as much as 50%. No additional funds for damaged schools In the proposed budget for SUCs such as Polytechnic University of the Philippines and Marikina Polytechnic College that have been devastated by previous calamities and typhoons, no funds have been earmarked for repairs or new equipment. In a press statement, the NUSP said instead of reducing subsidy, additional funding for SUCs is needed to address the deteriorating condition of state schools. “There are sources to fund our demand to increase budget for SUCs. One source is the P80 billion increase in debt payments. There is also an addition P8 billion for the Defense department and P10 billion for the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the National Police and P6 billion. The government should reallocate the increases given to military and debt servicing to education," Recedes said. –VVP, GMANews.TV