This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 5, March 5-11, 2006
Baguio
Students Hit Campus Repression, Excessive Increases
The University of Baguio (UB) Office of Student
Affairs (OSA) threatened to file an administrative case of illegal
assembly/rally/demonstration against eleven (11) UB student leaders and certain
John Does after the students staged a protest action against UB’s proposed 7.5
percent school fee hike. BY
PINK-JEAN FANGON MELEGRITO
BAGUIO CITY — The University of Baguio (UB)
Office of Student Affairs (OSA) threatened to file an administrative case of
illegal assembly/rally/demonstration against eleven (11) UB student leaders and
certain John Does after the students staged a protest action against UB’s
proposed 7.5 percent school fee hike.
According to the letter dated February 28, 2006
from UB OSA Director Jerome Palaoag, the said students were positively
identified for “illegal activities” strictly prohibited under the UB student
handbook on February 24, 27, and 28. The alleged infraction carried a sanction
of exclusion to expulsion from the university.
UB-Supreme Student Council (UB-SSC) Prime
Minister Carlo Lupian, one of the students facing the said raps, said the fight
continues despite the charges. The charge against them only proves how UB is
repressing its students, Lupian added.
Joseph Torafing, UB College of Law Student
Parliament governor, also one of the 11 students charged, said that what they
did was a right guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution. He stressed that the
1987 Constitution is superior to the UB Student Handbook.
Dialogue
In an interview with Torafing, he mentioned that
they (student leaders) had a dialogue with Dir. Palaoag on March 2 wherein the
latter, after hearing the side of the students, clarified that there is no
administrative case against the 11 students.
Torafing also revealed that the student leaders
are contemplating on filing a case against the OSA and university security
(marshals) for the continued harassment of students involved in protest actions.
Dispersal
Previously on February 27, UB marshals harassed
protesting students and tore all their placards.
Marshals shoved Theresa Manglicmot of Gabriela
Youth-Metro Baguio and Antoni Karl Riva of Anakbayan. The marshals also verbally
abused members of Tabak-Baguio, Anakbayan, League of Filipino Students (LFS) and
Alliance of Concerned Students (ACS) who supported the UB students.
A Nordis reporter covering the assembly was also
harassed by UB head marshal Fontanos (no name was given). He punched the said
reporter when the latter asked if the administration ordered the dispersal.
“The UB administration knows that the marshals
are abusive even when checking IDs. Apparently, no action was taken to
reprimand them,” Lupian lamented in Filipino.
Sparking the plug
The UB students, led by UB-SSC, have been
lobbying for a minimal fee increase. With the implementation of the Commission
on Higher Education (Ched) Memorandum number 14, unilateral fee increases
without prior consultation are allowed.
National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP)
Baguio-Benguet Coordinator John Panem said, school fees should not be combined
with ambiguous fees like miscellaneous fees, development fees, cultural fees.
The UB-SSC said, in a position paper, that UB’s
audited financial statement, submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC), revealed that UB has an average annual income of P22.69M ( $443,337 at
$1: P51.18) for the past six years. The paper added that UB spent excessively
for donations (P1.4M or $27,354), conference and workshops (P1M or $19,538),
advertisement and promotions (P4.5M or $87,924); and anniversary expenses and
awards (P6.2M or $121,141).
“We, the UB students, demand that the proposed
increases be deferred on the principle of ‘service over profit’”, Lupian
concluded.
Meanwhile, students from St. Louis University (SLU),
University of the Cordilleras (UC), Baguio Central University, Baguio
Educational Technical Institute and the University of the Philippines - Baguio
massed up in front of their schools and marched towards Igorot Park March 1 to
protest tuition fee increases or TFI. Christel Maureen Eisma, SLU
2nd year student, said that protests against the seven percent TFI at
SLU was done inside the campus and not at the main gate where previous mass
actions were held. The administration of SLU threatened the SLU student council
president with expulsion. Eisma said that SLU is not
suffering from any economic constraint to justify the increase. Data from the
SEC reveals that SLU has P1.1 billion ($21,492,770) in savings. UP Baguio students
supported the campaign to lower school fees. They are also protesting against
the budget cut for UP amounting to P6.5 million ($127,002). At the Igorot Park, the
students, from different schools, agreed on a common stand against campus
repression and school fee hikes. Pink-Jean Fangon Melegrito, with reports
from Elena Dionisio/Posted by Bulatlat. © 2006 Bulatlat
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NORTHERN DISPATCH
Posted by Bulatlat