UP students stage walkout over planned tuition hike

Students from all campuses of the state-run University of the Philippines (UP) nationwide yesterday walked out of their classes in protest of the impending 300-percent increase in their tuition.

Faculty members and non-academic personnel belonging to the All-UP Academic and Workers Union backed the walkout, which was done correspondingly to a reported meeting of the UP Board of Regents in Tacloban.

The UP Board of Regents will decide on the tuition increase proposal of UP president Emerlinda Roman. The panel, however, is reportedly inclined to approve the 300 percent tuition increase when it convenes again in December.

"The administration may actually railroad it as the case is at present," claimed Marco delos Reyes, president of the National Unions of Students of the Philippines (NUSP).

"No actual and factual student consultations were held in this proposal because the administration believes that it is not a procedural requirement," he added.

Delos Reyes, a former UP Students Regent and chairperson of the UP-Diliman University Student Council (USC), believed that the tuition increase in the premier state university is "like a punch to the head," saying the move would deprive students quality and accessible education.

According to Delos Reyes, students in private and public schools are already being "boxed out" by the increasing cost of education.

The UP administration proposal of tuition adjustment translates to increase from P300 to P1,000 for UP Diliman, Manila, Los Baños, and Pampanga; and from P200 to P600 for UP Baguio, Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, Miag-ao, and Davao.

Delos Reyes said with the accompanying increase in miscellaneous fees, a student stands to pay at least around P21,000 for an 18-unit regular load.

"The UP has no more right to celebrate its centennial on 2008 if it reneges on its sworn responsibility to the Filipino people to provide quality accessible education," he said.

On the other hand, the University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) supports the proposed modification of the current education fee. They said the measure was "very reasonable" because of inflation over the years.

In a resolution, the UPAA board of directors has unanimously voted in favor of the tuition increase, which they prefer to describe as an "adjustment to meet the level of inflation."

UPAA president Gari Tiongco said majority of the group "favorably endorsed" the proposed tuition adjustment as it has been "a long time ago" since UP increased its tuition.

The UPAA’s official position has already been submitted to the UP Board of Regents.

"UP has gone down simply because we lack the facilities, because we have no money for research and because our professors are being pirated by other colleges. We want to maintain the quality of education (in UP)," said Tiongco, who is also a member of the UP Board of Regents. "The last (tuition) increase in UP was made in 1989... So, we think it is about time."

Tiongco emphasized that UP tuition would still be "way, way below" compared to those of other schools and universities in spite of the hike.