P-Noy ‘pusong-bato’ on price, tuition increases?

EDITORIAL

Price hikes and tuition increases are being condemned nationwide with protesters accusing President Aquino of being “pusong-bato” or cold-hearted to pleas in addressing these.  

In Baguio, youth and students said considering February is the Month of Love the President should address and soften his stance on these matters. They staged protest actions saying “We feel heartbroken due to
the neglect and incompetence the government has given us.”

At Malcolm Square, they said  "Simply put, the Filipino people continually have their hearts broken while the government, specifically President Aquino, has a heart of stone as seen in his policies and actions" said Tracy Dumalo, Anakbayan-Cordillera spokesperson.

According to Anakbayan, yearly proposed increases are done in the month of February where
students are shocked to see notices of approved increases for the following school year. These increases, they said, are permitted by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) as private school and university administrators give them their proposed increases in tuition and other fees yearly.

Incoming first year students, Anakbayan said, face higher tuition and other fees from older year levels due to yearly increases implemented for freshmen. These increases, they said, are approved and become effective even without consultation with the student bodies.

State university and colleges, according to Anakbayan,  are also not spared from tuition increases due to the continuing budget cuts and lowered state subsidies in education. 79 out of 112 SUCs will be facing millions of cuts in their yearly budget, as the government follows its Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform (RPHER) Program, which started last 2012.

The program, they said, aims to privatize public schools, enabling the government to allocate the budget for education to military and payment for foreign debts. “

All these, at the expense of the people,” Dumalo said. “The continuing budget cuts, tuition increases and disrespect of students' democratic rights clearly shows that education under the Aquino administration is no longer a right, but has become a privilege for the few."

“We call on school administrators to stand with the people against budget cuts and yearly school increases that has resulted in yearly increase in percentage of student drop-outs, due to their inability to meet the high school  fees. Furthermore, we call on them to uphold the democratic rights of the students in conducting proper consultation
and respect approve their appeals for tuition moratorium,” Dumalo said.

February being the Month of Love, the President could listen and look more into these issues or risk being accused of being “pusong-bato.”