UP students stage walkouts to protest education budget cuts

The pillars of Palma Hall, one of the main buildings in the state-run University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, were marked with striking graffiti — a spray-painted Oblation. The Oblation, a well-established and revered symbol of the state university, was hanging by the neck from a yellow noose, which mimicked the looped yellow ribbon that has become President Benigno Aquino III’s trademark. The graffiti expressed the sentiments of over 3,000 students who walked out of their classes in UP Diliman on Thursday, in what they described as a “strike" against the P1.39 billion slashed from the UP system budget for 2011. The protesting students set up a barricade along the University Avenue, blocking off the main entrance to the campus. After a march around the academic oval, which spans nearly the full length of the campus, the students moved to Palma Hall to hold a program as part of the daylong strike. The student protest forced jeepneys and other vehicles to take alternative routes. Protest leaders said faculty, administration, and other sectors of the UP community also joined in the strike or expressed support. A simultaneous strike was also held at the UP Manila campus in Padre Faura, where Senator Alan Peter Cayetano dropped by to give a message of support to some 2,000 students denouncing the budget cuts in the education sector. Protest leaders said the UP Manila walkout, also described as a “strike," completely paralyzed the operations of the College of Arts and Sciences building, where protesters are also planning to hold an all-night vigil. UP Diliman and UP Manila are two of the UP system’s seven constituent units. There were no reports so far of similar protest actions in the five other units, namely UP Visayas, UP Los Baños, UP Mindanao, UP Baguio, and UP Open University, as of posting time. ‘We will take to the streets’ “Kung pipiliin ng gobyerno na maging bingi sa pangangailangan ng kabataan, tutulak na talaga ang mga kabataan sa kalsada para maglunsad ng strike bilang makapangyarihang mensahe na tutol tayo sa pagpapabaya ng gobyerno sa edukasyon," said UP Student Regent Jaqueline Eroles. (If the government chooses to remain deaf to the needs of the youth, then we will take to the streets to stage a strike, as a powerful message denouncing government’s neglect of education.) The UP system had its budget cut down by the Aquino administration from P6.9 billion in 2010 to P5.53 billion for next year. The budget allotted to UP serves as the system’s primary funding for seven constituent units located in 12 campuses throughout the Philippines, as well as the Philippine General Hospital, which is operated by UP Manila. The university consistently receives only a fraction of its proposed budget every year. (See chart) *The budget was augmented by bonuses and additional funds for the UP Centennial. Teachers feel the effects of the insufficient budget allotted to the education sector, not only in their meager salaries, but in the limitations to their teaching brought about by inadequate facilities, said UP professor Gerry Lanuza, who joined the strike. Meanwhile, College of Mass Communication (CMC) Dean Rolando Tolentino said that due to consistent decreases in UP’s budget, he was forced to shift his focus away from his primary task as an educator. Instead of finding ways to improve academic excellence, as the head of the CMC, he had to find sources of funding for the college, Tolentino explained. Speaking to protesters at UP Diliman, Kabataan partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino said he was “dismayed" by the passage of Aquino’s 2011 budget in the Lower House. Palatino urged the protesters to “storm the Senate" on December 1, when the national budget is set to be approved in a bicameral conference. Protesting students will stay overnight at Palma Hall in UP Diliman, and begin activities for the second day of the strike early tomorrow, said UPD University Student Council (USC) chairperson Rainier Astin Sindayen.
Budget contentions “We are gradually reducing the subsidy to [state colleges and universities] to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their [own] income," said Aquino in his 2011 budget message to Congress. The Aquino administration allocated a budget of P23.4 billion for the country’s 112 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in 2011, a figure 1.7 percent lower than the P23.8 billion budget for SUCs in 2010. The Aquino administration also slashed the 2011 budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) by 33 percent, bringing it down to P1.69 billion from P2.54 billion this year. In UP’s case, Aquino maintained that the budget was decreased because UP, the state’s primary institution for tertiary education, has developed its own income-generating measures. The President pointed out that UP also sources funds from tie-ups with private corporations, such as the UP-Ayala Technohub, and from students' tuition. (See: Aquino: State colleges, universities not taken for granted.) Budget secretary Florencio Abad also explained in a statement that “with scarce public funds available, the government had to prioritize closing the resource gaps in basic education, among others." “While I too desire more subsidies for SUCs, our government is hard-pressed to fund other important needs such as basic education," Abad added. The Aquino administration increased the budget of the Department of Education, which administers the country’s public elementary and secondary schools, from P185.5 billion in 2010 to P207.3 billion in 2011. Palatino argued, however, that there should be no distinction between basic and tertiary education. “An investment in higher education is an investment in our economy and a commitment to improving our human capital," said the youth partylist lawmaker. Poor facilities Students from several UP colleges also raised concerns during the strike about the insufficiency of their budgets. The 92-year-old building of the College of Education has had no electricity since its main feeder line broke down last September 20. Education majors have been taking their classes in other buildings while their own is undergoing a complete rewiring, scheduled to be completed by the end of January. Earlier building inspections had revealed that the building’s aged wiring would probably break down soon, but funds were only allotted for rewiring after the electricity went out. Meanwhile, in the College of Science (CS), the main building of the Institute of Chemistry was severely damaged by a fire last June 9. The Chemistry pavilion has yet to be fully repaired, and chemistry students whose laboratory classes were affected by the fire are taking their classes in other buildings in the National Science Complex within UP Diliman. In a statement on its website, the CS administration said, “Faculty, staff and students of the College of Science are strongly encouraged to participate… in the various multisectoral activities that are currently scheduled by the UP Diliman community to convince the national government to increase its proposed UP Budget for fiscal year 2011." “The [CS] is in dire need of additional funding support to properly maintain and operate the National Science Complex that is scheduled for completion in 2011," the statement added. Angelo Flores, representative of the College of Human Kinetics (CHK) to the USC, offered a striking argument against budget cuts. It was difficult for UP’s athletes to perform well in the annual University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) competition, he explained, when CHK facilities for training are dilapidated and lacking. Widespread protests According to the League of Filipino Students, other schools which also conducted protest actions on Thursday include the Polytechnic University of the Philippines; Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute for Science and Technology; and Quirino High School. Meanwhile, in a press conference held also on Thursday at the Rizal Technological University, public educators representing 87 members of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) said they joined the students of their schools in protesting the budget cuts to the education sector, according to Kabataan partylist. Student groups from these schools are set to march to Mendiola on Friday afternoon, to bring their protest to Malacañang.—JV, GMANews.TV