UP-Mindanao Besieged By Tuition Hike Protests

MEMBERS OF THE KABATAAN PARTY LIST and students of the University of the Philippines held picket rallies Friday in Davao City in the southern Philippines in time for the 1217th Board of Regents meeting of the UP system.

UP students are protesting a recent 300% hike in tuition fees.

Backed by members of various student groups from other schools and the Kabataan Party list, the students held a rally in front of the Grand Men Seng Hotel during the UP alumni gathering.

"We wanted to ask the support of our alumni in demanding for a repeal of the recent increase in tuition," Raymond Basilio, chairman of the University Student Council in UP Mindanao, said in a press statement.

Basilio’s group later proceeded in front of UP’s School of Management along Anda Street where the University Board of Regents were discussing new UP policies and the tuition fee increase.

"Parents of iskolars ng bayan will have to shell out an estimate of P 11, 600 to enroll in UP Mindanao for a regular load of 18 units. A far cry from the P 4, 500 a UP Mindanao student is paying at present," Basilio said.

"It is known that, more often than not, UP programs and policies serve as a blueprint for other colleges and universities to follow. If UP manages to get away with a 300% increase in its tuition and other fees, what would stop other colleges and universities from following the very same steps?" he added.

Karlos Manlupig, coordinator of Kabataan Party list coordinator, said the school year is about to end yet private schools and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) seemed adamant in not taking necessary steps to settle the issue of the illegal implementation of tuition and other fee hikes.

Manlupig was referring to the CHED Memo No.14 or the guidelines for applications for tuition and other fee increases."It has been declared illegal by the House Committee on Education but private schools are still using it as an excuse to raise tuition fees," Manlupig said.

Karla Hyasmind Apat, Kabataan Party list vice-president for Mindanao, said with the present economic condition, the increase in tuition fee will only serve as a burden to the parents of UP students.