THE League of Filipino Students (LFS) on Monday protested President Duterte’s veto of the free-tuition policy in state universities and colleges (SUCs), and said the Palace is again reneging on its promise to grant relief to students.
“Our right to education is nonnegotiable. We reject all forms of conditionalities that will obstruct the path in having a free public education in all levels for every Filipino youth,” LFS Spokesman JP Rosos said during a protest at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UP Diliman).
LFS leaders took turns lambasting the veto at the Palma Hall lobby before marching to the office of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Carlos P. Garcia Avenue within the 524-hectare campus.
“For decades, Filipino students have been fighting against tuition increases and other school fees. Having free tuition in public tertiary-education institutions is a welcome development. It is horrible that Duterte has vetoed such a progressive move,” Rosos lamented.
“President Duterte is dead wrong when he said that free tuition in SUCs should not be available to all undergraduate students. It is unacceptable that the highest official in the land does not want our right to be respected,” he added.
Rosos insisted it is the duty of the state to provide universal education and spend for the intellectual growth of succeeding generations.
No condition should be attached to the enjoyment of free tuition in public tertiary-educational institutions, which serve those who are not wealthy but are intelligent and capable of serving the intellectual and economic needs of the country, Rosos added.
“Free tuition is only the first step in realizing the youth’s aspiration for a free public education for all. It is unacceptable that the regime is already blocking the path to such aspiration,” Rosos said. He pointed out that having conditions in the enactment of free tuition is no different from the fine print of the socialized tuition system being implemented at UP.
“Duterte’s conditions that students who can afford tertiary education must pay and those who are poor, but academically inclined, are the only ones subsidized is the same premise of UP’s socialized tuition system. But it cannot fool us. We have seen how such premise translates to tuition increases and imposition of other school fees,” Rosos said.