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The 2nd UPD Unity March Against the Budget Cut

Today, September 14, 2011, the second UPD Unity March Against the Budget Cut was held. The first one was held last Sept 16, 2010 against the P1.39B UP budget cut. (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1467011193163.2066331.1170042080)

Like last year's march, hundreds of UP students together with the faculty, administrative staff and members of the UP community, engaged in the making of history--a history of struggle of the university against budget cuts which goes back to the time of SP Lopez, a history of asserting UP as a state university, a history of UP standing up against privatization of education, health and other social services.

For me, the morning started with the post of Omeng Rodriguez-"-sa bayang pinatatanda ng kahirapan, bumabata ang natututong lumaban." (in a nation aged by poverty, those who struggle retain their youth). And my day ended in the midst of the youth "fully engaged in the making of history", another quote this time from the martyr, UP alumna Ma. Lorena Barros.

Below is the statement of the All UP Academic Employees Union, the union of faculty and REPS of UP, on why faculty and REPS join the fight against the budget cuts!

GURO AT REPS TUMINDIG KA LABAN SA BUDGET CUTS
Pahayag ng All UP Academic Employees Union
Setyembre 14, 2011

Oras na para iambag ang boses ng ating hanay sa mga panawagang dagdagan ang pondo ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas dahil apektado tayo budget cuts.
Ayon sa mga estudyante:

Isasara ng budget cut ng UP ang pinto ng pamantasan sa mga maralitang estudyante. Iaanak nito ang pagtaas sa mga bayaring-eskuwela at pagpapanatili sa mga bayaring matagal nang napatunayang lampas sa kakayanan ng mga pangkaraniwang mag-aaral.
 

Ayon sa administrasyong UP:
 

Lubos na kulang ang pina-planong alokasyon ng pondo ng UP upang tustusan ang pangangailangang magtayo ng mga bagong gusali at maglunsad at magpalawak ng mga programang pang-akademiko at pagsasaliksik alinsunod sa tunguhin nitong mag-alok ng de-kalidad na edukasyon bilang tinaguriang national university.
 

Ang mga salitang ito ay bunga ng mga nakapanlulumong pangitain ng kinabukasan ng UP dahil sa patuloy na pagsasawalang-bahala ng gobyernong Aquino sa tungkulin nitong tustusan ang pangangailangan ng pamantasan. Sa tantiya mismo ni UP President Alfredo Pascual, nasa P800 milyon ang kaltas sa badyet ng UP sa ilalim ng 2012 national budget – P200 milyon sa maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) at P600 milyon sa personnel services (PS) kung saan nakasalalay ang sahod, allowances, at iba pang benepisyo nating mga guro, kawani, at REPS.
Siguradong maaapektuhan tayo ng naturang pagkaltas. Dahil ito ay magiging balakid sa karapatan natin sa makatarungan at makataong kondisyon ng trabaho. Sa nakaambang budget cut tiyak apektado tayo:
 

•Hindi na mapupunuan ang mga unfilled items. Inalis na sa 2012 budget ang alokasyon para dito.
 

• Dadami ang mga kontraktuwal. Dahil sa kawalan ng alokasyon sa unfilled item, mapipilitang kumuha ng mga empleyadong kontraktuwal ang UP upang tugunan ang pangangailangan ng tao upang magbigay serbisyo.
 

• Promosyon. Sa halip na base sa kwalipikasyon ang magiging pamantayan sa promosyon, magiging depende na lamang ito sa pondong mayroon.
 

• Maiipit ang mga dagdag na benepisyo. Maghihigpit ang administrasyong UP sa mga panukalang dagdag benepisyo na dapat na tinatanggap na, hal. 10 days Service Recognition Pay, Health Insurance, 200 Thousand Financial Assistance Program for Hospitalization Expenses, housing facilities.
 

•Apektado ang Philippine General Hospital na matagal ng kulang sa budget. Mas lalala ang sitwasyon dito na siya pa namang ating takbuhan kung tayo ay magkakasakit.
 

Bagamat tumaas ang ating mga sweldo sa loob ng SSL3, hindi natin maramdaman ito dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng mga bilihin. Halos araw-araw ay nakaamba ang epekto ng pagtaas ng petrolyo at dagdag pa ang mga panukalang dagdag pamasahe at imposisyon ng mga bagong tax.
 

Sa mga hamong ito, kailangan nating magkaisa upang labanan ang budget cut ng UP. Sa gitna ng pagtanggi ng gobyernong Aquino na tumaya para sa edukasyon, para sa UP, titindig tayo para labanan ang pagkaltas ng badyet hindi lang ng pamantasan, kundi pati ang badyet para sa kalusugan, pabahay, at iba pang batayang serbisyo.
 

Idadagdag natin ang boses at lakas natin sa sama-samang pagkilos ng iba’t-ibang sektor ng ating pamantasan upang labanan ang pag-abandona ng gobyerno sa responsibilidad nitong mamuhunan sa mamamayan.
 

Ang hanay ng guro at REPS ay magpapaabot ng pagtutol laban sa budget cuts. Sama-sama nating isisigaw:
 

BADYET SA EDUKASYON AT IBA PANG BATAYANG SERBISYO
DAGDAGAN, HUWAG BAWASAN!

UP president calls for increased state subsidy during his investiture

N.B. - This press release is prepared by the University of the Philippines System Information Office (SIO). Full text may also be retrieved from http://www.up.edu.ph/features.php?i=395

“We must continue to demand increases in state subsidy for (the University of the Philippines), increases in the pay of our faculty and staff, and the upgrading of our facilities deserving of a national university.”

UP President Alfredo E. Pascual stressed this point during the investiture rites today (September 15). In ceremonies held at the University Theater of UP Diliman, Pascual was formally vested the powers of being the 20th president of the country’s national university.

Stressing the need for higher state subsidy, Pascual stressed, “Government financial support for UP is not an expense, but an investment that will yield copious dividends for our country and people.”

He said that the UP community will not waver in the efforts “to restore UP to its preeminent status in the world of higher education and to ensure that the education it offers is accessible to the least of our people.”


 

“As the national university, UP must lead our country toward true national development and global competitiveness while nurturing the spirit of our nationhood,” he said.

In his speech, Pascual explained his two strategic initiatives of academic excellence and operational excellence.

He said that academic excellence entails developing students, researchers, staff and faculty members into “a pool of responsible and competent leaders who create world-class innovative and practical technologies that can address the problems of the country with food, energy, environment, industrial development, livelihood and employment; who produce creative works that can uplift the spirit of our people and articulate the essence of our culture and national identity; and who conduct exemplary extension services that can transform our communities.”

As regards operational excellence, Pascual said that it is achievable only through administrative efficiency and financial sustainability, the quickest approach of which is to put in place “an integrated information and communication system that will tie our units together into one UP.”

Recognizing the need to have decision-making based on accurate and real-time information, he said that UP will soon launch the e-UP which will interconnect and harmonize ICT systems and infrastructure across all UP campuses. Another project is the Green UP which aims, among others, “to make…campuses environment-friendly while saving on the cost of utilities, such as electricity and water.”

With his formal installation of the head of the national university, Pascual will have a greater opportunity to pursue the vision he has for UP.
 

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Bishop Pabillo, Senator Koko join call for higher SUCs budget
6 SEPTEMBER 2011

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III today linked arms with Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino and national youth groups in calling for higher budget of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in 2012.

“The support of Bishop Pabillo and Senator Koko will definitely intensify the impulse of the people’s campaign to save our public universities from utter destitution. We hold in high esteem their solidarity with the fight of our SUCS for a sufficient budget in 2012,” Palatino said in two separate press conferences Tuesday.

Pabillo and Pimentel’s support was clinched in light of the budget cuts to the already insufficient funds of SUCs for 2012.

Palatino said the under the proposed 2012 national budget being deliberated in the House of Representatives, SUCs are pegged to have an immediately accessible budget of only P21.89 billion. The budget for Capital Outlay (CO) of SUCs used for procurement of equipment and construction of buildings was reduced to zero. The UP system in 2010, for instance, has a P1.3 billion CO budget; it now suffers zero CO budget just like all the 112 SUCs in the country.

Apart from CO, the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of 45 SUCs will be slashed by P250.9 million. The budget for Personal Services (PS) decreased by P403.3 million despite the supposed automatic increase in PS for each year, due to the Salary Standardization Law.

Palatino said that the urgency of allocating a higher budget for the country’s SUCs is highlighted by the latest report from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings which did not place any Philippine university in the top league of 300.

Palatino said that the poor ranking is reflective of government neglect of public universities and the gross commercialization in tertiary education on the whole.

“As we reiterate our stand for an SUC budget increase, we stress that such call is aligned with the vision of making our universities at par with best in the world. Such vision must be guided by the principle of strengthening our universities to be instrumental for national progress and development. Indeed, this noble role of our SUCs is a concrete inspiration that makes the cause of an SUC budget increase worth fighting for,” Palatino said, lifting from the joint unity statement.

The proposed 2012 SUC budget will be subjected to plenary debates tomorrow in the House of Representatives.

Kabataan Party-list, together with the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) and national youth organizations, will lobby in the House tomorrow for a higher SUCs budget. Before the plenary debates, SUC Presidents are set to personally dialogue with various Representatives to urge them to support the campaign.

“President Aquino should understand that the plight of our SUCs speaks volumes about the education crisis besetting the nation. We urge him to wield his power to reverse the trend of state abandonment of public tertiary education,” Palatino said.

The broad unity for higher SUC budget has set September 19-23 as a national week of protests calling for a sufficient increase for education and other social services. ###

At the Palma Hall steps: UP Asst. VP for Public Affairs Prof. Danilo Arao,  MassCom  Dean Rolando Tolentino, Chancellor Saloma, College of Science Dean     and Associate Dean Prof Giovanni Tapang
 

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DBM claim of SUC budget increase “deceiving”– Kabataan party-list
9 SEPTEMBER 2011

In the throes of strong calls against SUC budget cuts and insufficient funds for public higher education, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) yesterday said that there is a 10.1% increase in the SUC budget for 2012 – a claim which Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino today said is “deceiving.”

“It is deceiving for the DBM to claim that there is an SUC budget increase despite clear budget cuts to various items and the insufficiency of the entire budget for the education sector. The DBM obviously evades the issue of budget cuts and insufficiency. It is agitating for our SUCs to hear misleading claims from the DBM. It will certainly set ablaze the strong unity of various sectors to fight for a sufficient SUC budget increase,” Palatino said.

Budget Cuts

Based on the 2012 National Expenditures Program (NEP), the proposal currently being deliberated in the House of Representatives and will later on be subjected to the Senate and the President to be become a law, a total of 45 SUCs will suffer a P250.9 million cut to their Maintenance and other Operating Expenses (MOOE). In addition, the budget for Personal Services (PS) of 58 SUCs is slashed by P403.3 million despite the supposed automatic increase in PS for each year, due to the Salary Standardization Law.

Palatino further pointed out that all 112 SUCs are given zero budget allocation for their Capital Outlay (CO), the budget item for the procurement of equipment and construction of buildings. Should the budget proposal be approved, SUCs will be receiving zero CO budget for the second straight year under the watch of President Aquino.

“The 2012 NEP clearly contains these devastating cuts to crucial items in the SUC budget. A person or an agency cannot deny these cuts without sounding like a bad liar,” Palatino said.

Standby Fund

Palatino also clarified that the amount of P2.5 billion the DBM has claimed to be apportioned to the SUCs is just a “standby fund” and is not immediately accessible to the SUCs.

“This P2.5 billion standby fund was taken away from the SUCs and is now subject to the approval of the President. Essentially, our SUCs now have to beg to the DBM and the President for them to be able to use these standby fund, which is even insufficient to address the needs of our public higher education. The DBM has nothing to brag about this standby fund. It should give back to our SUCs immediate access and control of these funds” Palatino said.

For 2012, SUCs have proposed a total budget of P45 billion. The DBM only gave an immediately accessible budget of P21.8 billion for SUCs, based on the 2012 NEP. .

Reduction policy

Palatino also said that the DBM explicitly states in its education budget policy that the funds for SUCs will be gradually reduced, following the recommendation of the World Bank (WB).

“The issue of budget cuts and insufficient funding is actually part of an existing education budget policy espoused by the DBM. What the Aquino government wants is for our SUCs to abandon their public nature and become privatized institutions. This means less funding from the government and added burden to our students and their families, “ Palatino said.

Broad Unity

Last Wednesday, House Representatives have expressed a stand against SUC budget cuts and have called for a sufficient increase in SUC funds. Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel IIII and Manila Auxillary Bishop Broderick Pabillo have also voiced support for the campaign.

The broad alliance of lawmakers, youth groups, SUC officials, and members of concerned sectors is gearing up for a series of nationwide actions on September 19-23.

“DBM should properly address the just demands of our SUCs instead of spreading deceitful claims. These budget cuts and insufficient funds are totally inadmissible. It is not only the welfare of our SUCs that is at stake here but also the future of our youth and our nation,” Palatino said. ###

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House members unite for SUC budget increase
7 SEPTEMBER 2011

House Representatives, together with youth groups, Presidents of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and even the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), yesterday gathered in unity calling for a higher allocation for the cut-laden P21.89 billion budget of public tertiary education in 2012 .

Wearing white ribbons to signify their protest against the SUC budget cuts, Representatives Raymond “Mong” Palatino of Kabataan Partylist and Joseph Victor “JV” G. Ejercito (San Juan) enjoined their fellow lawmakers to sign a unity statement calling for the restoration of SUC budget cuts and the allocation of sufficient funds for Capital Outlay (CO).

Other proposals raised during the solidarity meeting include allowing SUCs direct access to the P2 billion lump sum fund for unfilled positions and the re-channeling to the SUCs budget part of the P39 billion fund for the Conditional Cash Transfer program.

“If the Executive refuses to recognize the importance of substantially increasing the budget of our public higher education institutions, then Congress should make a clear stand in support for our SUCs. We laud our esteemed colleagues, SUC officials, youth groups, and concerned sectors who are fighting for our public tertiary education and the future of our nation,” Palatino said.

Among other lawmakers who joined the call for a higher SUCs budget are Representatives Teddy Casiño and Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna), Emmy de Jesus and Luz Ilagan (Gabriela), Rafael Mariano (Anakpawis), Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers), Bernadette Herrera-Dy (Bagong Henerasyon) Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd district, Cagayan de Oro City), Karlo Alexei B. Nograles (1st district, Davao City), Juan Edgardo Angara (Aurora and Chairman of House Committee on Higher and Technical Education) and Josefina M. Joson (1st district, Nueva Ecija and Vice Chair of Committee on Appropriations).

CHED Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan also expressed support, as youth leaders from the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) laced a white ribbon on her arm.

During the plenary debates, Palatino with fellow Reps. Antonio Tinio, Rufus Rodriguez and JV Ejercito echoed the call for greater state subsidy for SUCs. Rep. Josefina Joson, being the Vice Chair of the Committee on Appropriations, vowed to concretely address the requested increases.

Palatino also stressed that calls for a higher SUCs budget should also include the task of reframing existing education policies which serve as the “root cause” of SUC budget cuts.

In his interpellation during the pre-plenary SUC budget hearing, Palatino scored the policy of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to systematically reduce state funding for SUCs as advised by the World Bank (WB).

“Is it not ironic that both DBM and WB publicize social betterment as they aggressively push for budget cuts to SUCs? We have to understand that social progress and development will not be possible in the absence of a strong public tertiary education system. SUCs need sufficient funds to be able to qualitatively function,” Palatino said.

Last Tuesday, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III linked arms with Palatino, national youth groups like the NUSP and Anakbayan, and the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) to also call for a higher SUC budget.

Nationwide protests were set on September 19-23 to push for a budget increase for education and other social services. ###