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'Planking,' 'tsunami walk' highlight student protests vs budget cut


UP Diliman students stage a 'planking' protest at Palma Hall on Thursday to denounce budget cuts for higher education. Ralph Joel
Highlighted by their mass "planking" and "tsunami walks," thousands of students in Metro Manila and 10 other provinces on Friday culminated their respective week-long protest actions over cuts in the 2012 budget for state universities and colleges. Apart from the students, other government employees, health workers, teachers, professors, and school administrators joined the massive demonstrations, said Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of youth group Anakbayan. Among the participating SUCs are:
  • University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD);
  • UP Manila;
  • Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP);
  • Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST); and
  • Philippine Normal University (PNU). Aside from these schools, simultaneous walkouts and mass planking took place in La Union, Baguio, Laguna, Bicol, Iloilo, Tacloban, Cebu, Lanao, Pampanga, and Bulacan, including 11 SUCs in Central Luzon. In UP Diliman, students gathered outside the Palma Hall (at the AS Steps) to prepare for a long march to Mendiola in Manila, which they dubbed as their own version of the "tsunami walk." "Tsunami walk" refers to the the famous walk associated with Miss Universe 3rd runner-up Shamcey Supsup, who dazzled judges during the Miss Universe pageant in Brazil earlier this month not only with her beauty and intelligence, but particularly with her signature and distinctive swaying of the hips - almost like flowing waves - while working the stage. According to Crisostomo, unlike Supsup's catwalk, students will cover a bigger distance during their march - more than 13 kilometers from the UP campus to the Don Chino Roces (Mendiola) Bridge in Manila, where students from other protesting schools are set to converge later in the day. "This day is the culmination of the week-long spate of protest activities against the social services cutback. The P146 million cut on the budget for state universities and colleges (SUCs) will lead to higher tuition rates and bloated miscellaneous fees, making education a privilege exclusive to those who can afford," Crisostomo said.
    Apart from their "Isko tsunami walk," students have likewise employed newer protest tactics to express their dismay with government, like "freeze mobs," "die-ins," "funeral marches," and even "planking." Quickly becoming a fad in other countries, planking involves the act of lying face down in unusual spots and locations, with one’s body rigidly straight and arms to the side to mimic a wooden plank, then having photographs or videos of the act taken for posting on the Internet. Traffic in several parts of Metro Manila was disrupted during last Monday's transport strike when protesters "planked" in the middle of busy city streets. The Manila Police District has already vowed to break up future "planking" sessions and detain those engaged in the act, especially if it will already disrupt traffic or pose danger to others. A House bill has recently been filed against planking. “We stand-up today as Iskolar ng Bayan and pag-asa ng bayan. The Aquino government should stop ‘planking’ ala-tuod. We will not tolerate a government which chooses not to provide adequate education and health services for its people. This is both a wake up call and a warning," said Crisostomo. Crisostomo said despite a request from some 110 SUCs to be given a 45-billion budget in 2012, the government has only allotted P21.8 billion - smaller by P230,000 than the P22.03 billion budget this year - based on the National Expenditure Program. According to the same NEP for 2012, 50 schools will have their total budget slashed by a combined P569.8 million, 45 will have cuts in their Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses funds by P250.9 million, and 58 will have cuts in Personal Services (PS) by P403.3 million. Budget allotted for Capital Outlay is zero. PUP protest In PUP, students slammed the government for allocating only a P737-million budget for them, far from what they said was the P2 billion that the school would need next year. The government has claimed that the budget for SUCs has increased by 10 percent through the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) and the SUCs Development fund. The protesting student groups also said "questionable allocations" for intelligence funds of the military worth over P5 billion should instead be re-channelled to social services and education. “There’s no question in the validity of our demands. For a government that chooses to prioritize flawed policies over our basic rights, this historical collective action is our response," said said Pauline Gidget Estella, national deputy secretary general of College Editors Guild of the Philippines. She criticized the government for ignoring past protest actions and resorting to "deceptive explanations" to justify the against budget cuts for SUCs. The protesting students said their protest actions will continue for the next few months and will closely monitoring Senate proceedings and bicameral conferences for the 2012 budget. — RSJ, GMA News
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