Students walk out from classes to protest gov't 'neglect'

College students in Manila and Quezon City walked out of their classes on Tuesday to protest what they called the Aquino administration's neglect of the education sector. In Quezon City, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman students walked out of their classes and held a program at Palma Hall, radio dzBB's Allan Gatus reported. The students left their classrooms at 11:30 a.m. and criticized what they called the government's failure to address the concerns of students, such as high tuition. Some of the students lay on the ground to dramatize the desperate plight of education in the country, the report added. In Manila, a separate dzBB report said students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines staged a similar walkout from their classes. The report said the students who took part in the walkout were to march to Mendiola Bridge near Malacañang. The National Union of Students of the Philippines said the protest was a preview of their protest on July 25 when President Benigno Aquino III delivers his State of the Nation Address. - VVP, GMA News