Letter to the Editor — ASEAN preps out of order

Education is a right and not a privilege. It must be accessible to the greatest number of Filipino youth. It must be provided by the government to the people, as it is constitutionally-bound to be.

It is in this light that we oppose, in general, the commercialization of education - the selling of education as a commodity - which makes education a right of a few who can pay and not the right of every Filipino. It is in the same light that we oppose, in particular, the lavish spending of the Arroyo administration for a four-day event.

There is nothing wrong with holding international summits in the country. There is, however, something very wrong when the government prioritizes the holding of such convocations while the state of the country's social services, especially education, is in a sorry state.

P650 million is spent for the Cebu International Convention Center while millions more are spent for costly beautification projects. All in all, the present government has allotted P2.5 billion for the summit's preparations.

It is sad to note that money for the summit is released easily as compared to funding for the social services. All these costly expenses for the ASEAN summit can already go a long way in augmenting the insufficient budget for education.

The Arroyo administration's misprioritization of public funds has reached absurd heights. Hence, we remind it of its constitutional mandate to give highest budgetary priority for education. The prioritization of Imeldific preparations for a four-day event is out of order in the context of the people's sufferings.

Opposition to the commercialization of education does not end in opposing increases in tuition and other fees. We, therefore continue our fight for higher government subsidy for UP in particular, and education, in general.

Karen Anne Zarraga
Chairperson - Unified Student Organizations
UP Visayas Cebu College