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Labanan  ang 1.39 budget cut sa UP! Igiit ang mas mataas na budget para sa UP at sa iba pang SUCs!

Pahayag sa Anyong Praymer ng

UP Kilos Na: Labanan ang Budget Cut!

Setyembre 14, 2010

Sa panukalang P 1.645 trilyong budget para sa 2011 ni Pangulong Noynoy Aquino, anu-ano ang naragdagan at anu-ano ang binawasan?

Ang panukalang budget para sa 2011, ang kauna-unahan sa termino ni Aquino, ay P1.645 trilyon na halos pitong porsyento ang itinaas  sa P1.54 trilyong budget noong 2010.  Tinawag ni Aquino na “reform budget” ang inihapag na panukalang budget at aniya’y may pagkiling ito sa mahihirap.

Ang mga sumusunod ang ilan sa nagkaroon ng pagtaas:

Naglaan ng P823.27 bilyon ((P357.09 bilyon sa interes at P466.18 bilyon sa prinsipal na hindi isinama sa kabuuang buget proposal ng pamahalaan)  sa bayad-utang.  Tumaas ng P80.9 bilyon ang alokasyon sa bayad sa interes pa lamang.  

Samantala, dinagdagan ng P10 bilyon ang budget ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)  at lumaki rin ang pondo ng Philippine National Police (PNP) ng P6.6 bilyon.

Higit sa doble rin ang naging pagtaas ng budget para sa takaw-korapsyon na “pork barrel,” mula P10.9 bilyon tungong P24.8 bilyon. Naglaan din ang pamahalaan ng mahigit P15 bilyon para akitin ang mga pribadong mamumuhunan na makipagsosyo sa gobyerno upang magtayo at magpatakbo ng mga serbisyo at imprastraktura sa pamamagitan ng “public-private partnerships.”  Taliwas ito sa sinabi ni Aquino noong kanyang unang SONA na walang gagastusin ang pamahalaan para sa mga hakbanging ito.

Ang GOCCs na sa anunsyo ng Kalihim sa DBM Florencio Abad ay mababawasan ng P16 bilyon (mula P39.3 bilyon tungong P23.3 bilyon) ay tataasan ng P1.1 bilyon batay sa pag-aaral ni Senador Franklin Drilon.

Tumaas ng P32.2 bilyon ang alokasyon para sa basic education para tugunan ang dagdag na silid aralan, dagdag na mga items para sa mga guro at pagtaas ng sweldo ng mga empleyado sa sector.  Ang alokasyon para sa pabahay ay nagkaroon ng bahagyang pagtaas ng P273 milyon tungo sa kabuuang P5.7 bilyon

Ang mga sumusunod ang ilan sa mga nabawasan:

Nabawasan nang halos 10 porsyento ang alokasyon para sa serbisyong pangekonomiya:  mula P398.9 bilyon noong 2010 tungo sa P361.1 bilyon para sa 2011. Tinamaan nang husto ang agrikultura at repormang agraryo, komunikasyon, kalsada, at iba pang imprastrukturang pangtransportasyon, power at enerhiya, pagpapaunlad ng water resources, at flood control. Nagbabadya ang ganitong pagbabawas ng lalo pang pribatisasyon ng mahahalagang imprastrukturang pampubliko at ang kakambal nitong pagtataas ng singilin sa mga ito.

Ang 2010 alokasyon sa kalusugan na  P40 bilyon ay nabawasan pa, ginawang P38.6 bilyon na lamang para sa 2011. 

Gaano kalaki ang planong pagbabawas sa budget ng UP para sa 2011!

Sa taong 2011, sa unang budget na inihapag ng kauupong administrasyong Aquino, bumulaga sa atin ang planong muling babaaan ang ating budget. Mababa ng halos P1.4 bilyon ang 2011 proposed UP budget kung ikumpara sa naaprubahang budget noong 2010.

*

**http://www.dbm.gov.ph/NEP2011/SUCS/NCR/SUCS-NCR.pdf

May pagtaas sa personal services (PS) bunga ng implementasyon ng ikalawang tranche ng SSL3 pero binawasan ng P654 milyon ang ating MOOE at zero ang capital outlay.

Ano ang naging pahayag ng Administrasyong Roman kaugnay ng napipintong pagbawas sa budget ng UP?

Ayon kay President Roman sa interbyu sa kanya ng Philippine Collegian, ang pagbaba ng MOOE ng mahigit pitong milyong peso ay bunga ng “‘non-recurring items’ in the budget, which are sums given to the university for specific research and construction projects in a certain year.” (“DBM slashes P1.3B from proposed P11B UP budget,” Set. 3, 2010, p. 3).  Totoo man ang ganitong paliwanag, lumalabas na si Roman ay nagbibigay pa ng katwiran sa pagliit ng ating budget. Alam naman niya kung gaano naiipit ang iba’t ibang kolehiyo at yunit, pati na ang PGH, sa kakapusan ng panustos para sa maintenance ng mga gusali at pasilidad, at sa pambayad sa tubig at kuryente na taon-taon na lamang ay tumataas kahit pa sa harap ng pagtitipid ng mga administrador at empleyado.

Mas maiintindihan ang pagtanggap na lamang ng administrasyong Roman sa mas mababang budget sa UP sa sumusunod na paliwanag niya sa Philippine Collegian:

The President’s (Aquino) message about reducing subsidy to higher education is not different from the previous administration’s position…This is why UP has been trying to generate resources from other sources and its land grants. (ibid)

Nakaligtaan na yata ni Presidente Roman ang probisyon sa 2008 UP Charter, Section 22 (f)  na “…….That funds generated from such programs, projects or mechanism (patungkol sa kikitain ng unibersidad sa mga land grants at iba pang pag-aari) shall not be meant to replace, in part or in whole, the annual appropriations provided by the national government to the national university”

Ano ang magiging epekto sa komunidad ng UP sa patuloy na pagliit ng budget ng UP?

Kapag binabaan pa lalo ang budget ng UP, mas may dahilan ang administrasyon ng UP na magpataw ng dagdag na bayarin at singilin sa mga estudyante, at mapabilis pang lalo ang komersyalisasyon ng mga lupain at mga serbisyo ng UP.

Apektado rin ang mga faculty na walang items, mga kawani na contractual at ang mga doctor sa UPM PGH na “without compensation” ang katayuan. Sa isinumite ng Administrasyong Roman na P18 b 2011 budget ng UP sa DBM naroon ang mga alokasyon para sa mga dagdag na items para sa mga kaguruan, paggawang permanent ng mga casuals, alokasyon para mabayaran ang mga doctor ng PGH na ngayon ay “without compensation” at humingi pa nga ng dagdag na MOOE.

Lalong igigiit ng administrasyon ang pagsasara sa UFS para makatipid at para magkaroon nang dagdag na kita sa mga concessionares. Ganoon din, tataasan na naman ang mga singilin sa mga vendors at mga drayber ng mga pampublikong jeep sa UP.

Ano ang maaari nating gawin para labanan ang budget cut sa UP?

Alalahanin natin ang tagumpay na nakamit natin sa sama-samang pagkilos noong 2009 para ipaglaban ang mas mataas na budget para sa UP. Nag-lobby tayo sa Kongreso, nagrali tayo para igiit na dapat dagdagan ang budget sa edukasyon. May tagumpay tayong natamo sa ating sama-samang pagkilos.   Napigilan ang pagbawas sa ating MOOE at nadagdagan  ito  ng halos P400 milyon. At sa halip na zero capital outlay ay nakakuha tayo ng P1.28 bilyon para sa iba’t ibang proyektong imprastruktura sa unibersidad.

* http://www.dbm.gov.ph/NEP2011/SUCS/NCR/SUCS-NCR.pdf 

**DBM, 2010 GENERAL SUMMARY STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES http://www.dbm.gov.ph/GAA2010/SUCSGEN.pdf

Sa kasalukuyang budget deliberations sa Kongreso, magkaisa tayo para igiit ang mga sumusunod na mga partikular na kahilingan sa karagdagang budget ng UP batay sa mahahalagang pangangailangan ng ating unibersidad:

Additional Faculty Items                                               P238.331  milyon

Regularization of Existing Casual                                       57.592  milyon

Lump sum for honoraria/ allowance/ for UP

Manila faculty (WOC)                                          26         milyon

Additional MOOE                                                          693.356  milyon

            Ang mga nasa itaas ay kinuha sa P18.53B 2011 UP Budget na isinumite ng UP sa DBM . Bukod sa mga ito, humihingi tayo ng alokasyon na P200 milyon para maipatayo ang bagong gusali ng UPIS sa loob ng academic oval na matagal nang hinihingi ng mga faculty, magulang at mag-aaral nito. Humihingi rin tayo ng dagdag na alokasyon para makapagpatayo ng housing sa loob ng kampus para sa mga faculty at mga kawani ng UP. Walang naitayong bagong housing sa campus sa termino ng tatlong nakaraang Pangulo ng UP: Javier, Nemezo at Roman o sa nakaraang halos maglalabing walong taon.

            Nasa 2008 UP Charter na bukod sa regular na alokasyon at dagdag sa taunang GAA, may taunang centennial fund na P100 milyon ng limang taon na dapat kasama sa budget ng UP. (Section 28, 2008 UP Charter “…….In addition to the regular appropriations and increases for the university under the annual GAA, a centennial fund shall be appropriated in the amount of One Hundred Million Pesos (P100,000,000.00) per year for a period of five years, which shall likewise be included in the annual GAA.”)

Bakit sinasabi na inaabandona ng Administrasyong Aquino ang obligasyon ng estado sa tersaryong edukasyon?

Ayon sa pag-aaral na ginawa ng Kabataan Partylist[2], matindi ang pagbawas sa budget hindi lamang ng UP kundi ng halos lahat sa state universities and colleges:

Para sa taong 2011, ang ilalaan na kabuuang subsidiya ng administrasyong Aquino para sa mga SUC’s ay mahigit-kumulang P23.41 bilyon (kabilang na ang pondo para sa Personnel at Retirement Pension benefits na sa aktwal na General Appropriations Act ay hiwalay sa budget ng SUC’s). Mas mababa ito nang mahigit P437 milyon mula sa budget ng SUC’s ngayong 2010, at mas mababa ito nang halos P2 bilyon mula sa budget ng SUC’s noong 2009

Ang pinakamalalang tatamaan ng mga budget cut para sa 2011 ayon sa indibidwal na proposed budget ng mga SUC’s (hindi pa kasama ang dagdag na halaga mula sa hiwalay na Personnel at Retirement Pension benefits) ay ang mga sumusunod:

SUC’s NA MAY PINAKAMALALANG BUDGET CUT SA 2011 (AYON SA PORSYENTO)

1.                                                      Philippine Normal University (-23.59%)

2.                                                      Aurora State College of Technology (-22.21%)

3.                                                      Cerilles State College (-21.95%)

4.                                                      University of the Philippines (-20.11%)

5.                                                      University of Southeastern Philippines (-20.03%)

SUC’s NA MAY PINAKAMALALANG BUDGET CUT SA 2011 (AYON SA AKTWAL NA SUBSIDIYA)

1.                                                      University of the Philippines (-P1.39 bilyon)

2.                                                      Philippine Normal University (-P91.35 milyon)

3.                                                      Bicol University (-P88.81 milyon)

4.                                                      University of Southeastern Philippines (-P44.39 milyon)

5.                                                      Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (-P31.65 milyon)

 Lumaki na ang bahagi ng mga bayarin estudyante ng mga SUCs mula halos pitong  na porsyento (6.6%) noong 2000, tungo 20.2% ngayong 2010 at magiging 22.1% sa 2011. Kung isusuma ang kabuuang kinikita ng mga SUCs sa mga self-generated income, pagtuloy ang pagliit ng subsidyo ng estado sa pampublikong paaralan sa tersaryong lebel: mula 87.74% noong 2000 tungo sa 66.31% sa panukalang 2011 budget. [3]

Lantarang inamin ni Presidente Aquino sa kanyang budget message ang kanyang pagpapatuloy sa programa ng Administrasyong Arroyo sa kanyang budget message: “We are gradually reducing the subsidy to SUCs to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and to utilize it for their programs and projects."

Tulad nang nagyayari sa UP, ang pagliit ng alokasyon para sa state universities and colleges ay nangangahulugan ng pagtaas na singilin sa mga mag-aaral, at ang higit pang komersyalisasyon ng mga pampublikong unibersidad. Kailangang labanan natin ang pagpapatuloy ng bagong administrasyong Aquino sa mga patakaran ng administrasyong Arroyo, at ang pagsunod sa dikta ng World Bank sa pag-abandona ng estado sa obligasyon nito sa edukasyon. Kung hindi, mawawal ang katangian ng UP bilang pampublikong unibersidad na nagbibigay ng de-kalidad pero abot-kayang pag-aaral sa mga kwalipikadong estudyante, anuman ang katayuang pang-ekonomiya.

Labanan ang P1.39 bilyong budget cut sa UP!

Labanan ang budget cuts sa state universities and colleges

Igiit ang mas mataas na budget para sa tersaryong edukasyong pampubliko!

Irechannel and debt-servicing at budget ng militar sa edukasyon at iba pang serbisyong panlipunan!

Labanan ang tumitinding komersyalisasyon at pribatisasyon ng UP at ng lahat ng SUCs!

Tutulan ang pag-abandona ng estado sa edukasyon!

Ang hamon sa susunod na UP President: Manindigan para sa pamantasan ng bayan, ipaglaban ang mas mataas na budget para sa UP!

Ilantad at tutulan ang mga anti-estudyante, anti-mamamayang patakaran ni Roman at ng Malacanang!

 Itaguyod ang UP bilang tunay na pamantasang bayan!

Youth solon scores P-Noy’s budget cut to higher ed
 

2 September 2010 710 views View Comments
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Kabataan Partylist Representative Raymond Palatino today scored President Noynoy Aquino’s move to reduce subsidies for state college and universities (SCU) in his proposed 2011 budget, stating that his proposition was an “abandonment of government’s responsibility to provide the Filipino youth with quality and affordable education.”

Based on the proposed 2011 budget, the PNoy administration allocated P 23.4 billion to the country’s 112 SCUs, 1.7 percent lower than this year’s budget.

“Aquino and his budget team should refrain from issuing statements that education is a major priority in the current administration when in fact, he is slowly abandoning the youth. State abandonment of higher education is a trademark of Arroyo’s administration. If the Aquino administration really intends to correct the mistakes of the past, then it should seriously review and overhaul the longstanding policy of reducing subsidy to public tertiary education,” the youth solon said.

In his budget message, Aquino said reducing the subsidy to SUCs will “push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and to utilize it for their programs and projects.”

Palatino said an imposed policy of “self-sufficiency and financial independence” in SCUs through tie-ups with private corporations and tuition and other fee increases places the burden of financing tertiary education to the Filipino students themselves, many of whom will be unable to afford it.”

“Allowing SCUs to generate their income and enter into partnerships with the private sector would only mean higher tuition, and consequently, higher drop-out rates and decreased access to tertiary education. This diminishes the public character of SCUs, which are supposed to provide quality and accessible education to those who cannot afford it,” he said.

P1.1B or 28.16% was cut from the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) from SCUs.

Seven SCUs’ MOOE were slashed by more than 50% namely:

* Southern Philippines Agri-Business & Marine and Aquatic School (-66.27%)
* Southern Leyte State University (-64.03%
* Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (-57.96%)
* Partido State University (-56.83%)
* Nueva Vizcaya State University (-53.65%)
* University of the Philippines (-51.85%)
* Aurora State College of Technology (-51.84%).

Among the SCUs with the worst budget cuts by percentage are:

* Philippine Normal University (-23.59%)
* Aurora State College of Technology (-22.21%)
* Cerilles State College (-21.95%)
* University of the Philippines (-20.11%)
* University of Southeastern Philippines (-20.03%)

While the SCUs with the worst budget cuts by nominal value are:

* University of the Philippines (-P1.39 billion)
* Philippine Normal University (-P91.35 million)
* Bicol University (-P88.81 million)
* University of Southeastern Philippines (-P44.39 million)
* Central Bicol State University of Agriculture (-P31.65 million).

Palatino said the reduced subsidy to tertiary education comes at a time when Filipino youth are actually flocking to SCUs because of the increasing cost of studying in private universities and colleges. Based on the latest available data from CHED, 35 percent of tertiary students were studying in SCUs in 2008 as compared to 21 percent in 1994 and 10 percent in 1980.

“Such budget cuts will only urge SCUs to follow the footsteps of the 300% increase in UP. With continuous slash in budgets, we fear that tuition and other fees increase will be rampant in the years to come. Sooner or later, the 112 SCUs will be semi-privatized.”

Palatino further stated that instead of abandoning its responsibility one by one to the people, the Aquino should rechannel debt servicing funds to education. The youth solon earlier filed House Bill 1962 which repeals automatic debt servicing while institutionalizing the appropriation of six percent of the country’s gross domestic product to the public education sector.

“We must implement, at the minimum, the six (6) percent prescription by the United Nations in order to address the tragic condition of our education sector. And when we say education, we are talking about all levels of learning. In implementing this automatic appropriation for education, we are securing not only the future of our youth, but the future of our dear nation,” said Palatino. ###

Aquino slashed budget for college scholarships as well – solon
28 September 2010 272 views View Comments
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Kabataan Partylist Representative Raymond Palatino today said that apart from reducing subsidies for the country’s 112 state universities and colleges, the Aquino administration also slashed the budget for student financial assistance for next year, thereby “aggravating the problems faced by a cash-strapped higher education system.”

From the P1.15 billion allocation for this year, the government will be spending only P501 million for college scholarships next year—a decrease of more than 43 percent or P650.6 million. The said reduction comprises the biggest decrease in the 2011 budget of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), which is in charge of the government’s student financial assistance program. The net decrease in the CHED’s budget for 2011 amounts to a total of P843 million.

The purpose of these scholarships is to assist students who cannot afford the cost of college education. With the meager state subsidy it gives to state colleges and universities and its failure to regulate tuition fees in both public and private schools, the decrease in scholarship funds is yet another blow to higher education. At the receiving end of such budget cuts are the students and their parents,” the youth solon said.

Meanwhile, another budget item that was slashed in the CHED budget is the Higher Education Development Fund, which the government’s budget planners decreased by P103.17 million. In a memo to President Aquino obtained by Kabataan Partylist, Budget Secretary Butch Abad proposed that SUCs avail of this fund instead of asking for higher subsidy.

“How can the DBM propose that SUCs can avail of the HEDF when in the first place, it slashed the said budgetary item? Clearly, our budget managers have ran out of sensible and factual excuses to justify its abandonment of education,” he said.

During the CHED budget hearing, CHED Chair Patricia Licuanan herself said that the data the DBM is using is “poor” and “erroneous.”

These webs of lies, inconsistent statements and data only disprove the government’s claim that it prioritizes the education sector. This state abandonment truly shows that the new administration is not even committed to send the youth to school. As a way of suggestion, it might help if Aquino and his budget team visit some state colleges for them to visualize reality and end fabricated illusions that money can be pulled from whichever funds they could lay their eyes upon,” he added.

Meanwhile, Palatino also reiterated his call to rechannel unnecessary budget allocations to the education sector pertaining to the biggest chunk of the national budget which went to debt servicing amounting to P 357 billion and the questionable increase of the Department of National Defense budget to P 77 billion.

The administration should stop stating that education is its priority when they don’t even have the will to appropriate the UN (United Nations) standard of six percent of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) to education. They’re choosing the wrong priorities,” he said.

The young lawmaker earlier filed House Bill 1962 repealing the automatic appropriation on debt servicing and allocating six percent of the country’s GDP to education.###

On 12-year basic education: Additional years, more problems
17 August 2010 3,193 views View Comments
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The move to add two years in basic education will not answer the country’s declining quality of education, the growing number of out-of-school youth, nor will it lift the country’s employment rate.

Below are five reasons to counteract Department of Education’s (DepEd) K12 program.

1. Additional two years would mean extra expense for parents of public school goers, a majority of which belong to impoverished sectors.

The new system would translate to added burden to parents who could barely send their children to school. For a poverty-stricken country such as ours, the proposal to add two years to basic education is a question of survival.

While public education is free, a student would still need an average of P20,000 per school year (Kabataan Partylist computation) to cover transportation costs, food, school supplies and other operational expenses whilst schooling. The government, on the other hand, in 2009 allotted a meager P2,502 a year, or P6.85 per student per day, for education. This figure has not improved since.

Moreover, based on the latest Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FEIS), Filipino families opt to spend more on food and other daily basic necessities over their children’s education needs. Most Filipino families, unfortunately, are forced to make a choice between sending their children to school and spending their meager income on food and other basic necessities in order to survive. Poverty and government neglect have made education a luxury to many of our Filipino families.

This would inevitably account for a higher dropout rate. Lower household spending on schooling, prompted by increasing prices of basic commodities, tuition and school fee hikes and stagnant wage levels have set the trend for a yearly increase in dropouts and out-of-school youth.

2. It is the government which would be ‘throwing money into the problem’.

The proposal itself is very ideal, if not whimsical, for a country whose public spending for education is one of the lowest in the world.

The education sector’s share has dwindled, from 3.3 percent in 2001, 2.19 percent in 2008 to 2.7 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009. This pales in comparison to neighboring countries Malaysia (7.4 percent) and Thailand (4 percent). It is also lower than the four percent average for all countries that were included in the World Education Indicators in 2006. The minimum prescribed standard for education spending set by UNESCO is six (6) percent of a country’s GDP.

The Philippines is also lagging behind its Asian counterparts in public expenditure on education as a percentage of total public spending.

At all levels of education, the Philippines is only spending 17.2 percent compared to Thailand’s 40 percent and Malaysia’s 28 percent. Translating this into expenditures per student, Philippine education spending is still way below its Asian competitors.

The annual budget for education has also decreased steadily from 17.4 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2010. As a result, every school opening has been greeted with perennial back-to-school woes such as classroom and textbook shortages, lack of facilities and underpaid teachers.

In his State of the Nation Address, Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino announced his thrust of venturing into public-private partnerships in order to address the needs of the education sector. This, however, may yet be used as an excuse to further decrease and gradually totally pull out state subsidy for education.

Certainly, adding two more years to basic education will not resolve the declining quality of education in that it does not at all address the root cause of poor government spending and mis-prioritization. How then can the government afford to subsidize additional two years when subsidy for the present cycle has been found lacking? If privatization is the Aquino administration’s answer, could it still guarantee free access to basic education, especially to our less fortunate students?

3. It will not resolve the high rate of unemployment, especially among the youth.

Another rationale is that adding two years to basic education would increase chances of our youth for employment, even sans a college diploma.

The DepEd says that an additional two years in basic education is aimed at improving the technical-vocational skills of our youth through subjects such as arts, aquaculture and agriculture, among others. The new education cycle, it said, would let students graduate at the age of 18 and ensure that they land a job here or abroad, making students employable even without finishing college.

This is another fallacy, and hopefully not a deliberate ploy to create a wrong impression and false sense of hope among our youth.

The Philippines, which has a predominantly young population, also has the highest overall unemployment rates in East Asia and the Pacific Region. It also has the highest rates on unemployment among the youth, according to a 2003 study by the World Bank. Young Filipinos are twice as likely to be unemployed than those in older age groups. This condition was further worsened when the economic recession kicked in because of massive retrenchment and lay-offs.

Young workers are at a disadvantage given their lack of experience vis a vis the lack of job opportunities. Every year for the last decade, at least 300,000 new graduates are added to the labor force, and consequently, a majority of them figure in the increasing unemployment statistics.

In January 2008, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported that 50 percent of the unemployed 2.7 million belonged to age groups 15 to 24. Of these, 461, 000 or 35 percent were able to graduate from college, while an estimated 700,000 unemployed youth either finished high school or at least reached undergraduate college levels.

Needless to say, let us please not mislead our youth into believing that a 12-year basic education cycle would “assure” them of job opportunities. How can the government avow this when this year alone 400,000 new COLLEGE graduates fell into the “idle” labor force? To really address youth unemployment, there is a need to overhaul not the basic education cycle but the country’s economic and labor policies.

4. It is designed to reinforce cheap semi-skilled labor for foreign needs.

Over the years, the government has promoted migration and jobs abroad in the guise of providing jobs and “greener pastures” to our young labor force. Roughly 10.7 percent of the total Filipino labor migrant population now consists of young workers, most of them semi-skilled and unskilled workers who offer their services in exchange for cheap labor.

The economy’s lack of development resulting in job loss at home is due mainly to the government’s failure to address poverty and joblessness. Migration has invariably resulted in the brain drain of our young skilled workers and professionals. The departure, for instance, of our young nurses, teachers and doctors to work as caregivers, medical assistants and domestic helpers has caused the disruption of our very own economy. Time and again we whine of the deterioration of the quality of our education and health systems, but ironically, our very own economic policies are driving away the best of the best of our skilled workers and professionals.

The current proposal adopted by neoliberal pro-globalization die-hards aim to meet standards for “global competitiveness” and demands of the “international labor market for semiskilled labor.” Simply put, this measure intends to strengthen the colonial orientation of Philippine education, serve the cheap labor needs of foreign capital and businesses. Our education system must be a Filipno education and must serve the needs of our nation and people.

5. The genuine solution is for the promotion of an educational system that would truly address the needs of the Filipino youth and Philippine society in general.

Education is the foundation upon which we shall build our country. It serves as the means to bring about the desired change in society, to develop a generation of virtuous individuals and thus contribute to the development of good human beings. Our educational system will determine the kind of nation we will become in the future.

Unless the government reverses its present education policies and works for the establishment of an educational system that truly addresses and caters to the needs of the Filipino youth and Philippine society, the changes it would implement are not necessarily the changes we genuinely need.

Instead of adding years, the government must focus on measures aimed at increasing state spending on education to six (6) percent of the GDP, stopping unjust tuition and other fee increases in all levels, promoting a nationalist curriculum, upholding democratic rights of students, improving teachers’ welfare, and improve science, research and technology development.

It must also promote transparency and sanction corruption cases in education programs and review existing policies and institutions of education. ###

Three Chapters of Love

(Or How It Is To Love Truly)

(In memory of Kasamang Aileen)
- Nonilon V. Queano/3October2010

(The author's translation into English of his own poem originally in Filipino, "Tatlong Yugto ng Pag-ibig O Paano Ba Magmahal Nang Wagas")

First, we who truly love
Need unfetter our minds
Across the empire's wide expanse,
Like meteor,
Blazing through the darkest nights with bursts of light,
So the heart could be a ball of fire drilling in the forest,
Or wherever the beloved has hid,
Love grows only in light.

Second, the work always kept alive inside:
Educating the masses
On how imperialism has brought suffering and injustice
Everywhere,
Across every space;
Tearing down the metaphysic
Which proclaimed that all poverty, suffering, and ignorance
Had been decreed by God in heaven,
Even if clearly God was the businessman
Who amassed wealth from plunder
Of mines, farmlands, weaving houses, kitchens
That belonged to us who had prayed, worshipped, were spurned, were devastated
By the wicked lie that they spread --
Borne on the terror of the wars that they unleashed everywhere --
That blessed are the poor and the hungry
For they will be rewarded in the afterlife,
This only the meteoric mind understands.

Third, the bearing of arms.
For nothing will put an end to the plague of imperialism,
But a revolution.
We will call this the love that is true,
From the heart that burns;
After raising the consciousness of the masses:
The uprising;
After seeing the love for freedom blossom:
The people's war wrought constantly
In song, faith, and dreaming
No matter how full of risks, distant, protracted.
That is how it is to love truly.
Drawing fire and light in the vast expanse and in forests,
Love will bloom,
Like the struggle,
For what is life worth if one has not loved,
And how is it to love if love be not true.
 

NO TO BUDGET CUTS!

NO TO THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF OUR EDUCATION!

EDUCATION IS A RIGHT!

MONEY FOR JOBS AND EDUCATION!

LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

###

--
Yves Nibungco
(201)6213156 -work
(201)2535662 -personal

Chairperson, Anakbayan New York/New Jersey
anakbayan-nynj.blogspot.com

Vice-chair for Campaigns, Sandiwa National Alliance of Fil-Am Youth

Community Health Worker, Kalusugan Coalition
kalusugancoalition.org
 

--
SERVE THE PEOPLE! Makibaka! Huwag Matakot!

Anakbayan (in english: "sons and daughters of the nation") is a comprehensive mass organization that aims to build unity among Filipino youth -- immigrant, US-born/raised, student, working, LGBT, women, artists, etc -- striving for nationalism and democracy and for the promotion of cultural awareness and the advancement of rights, welfare, and social justice. All Filipino youth are agents of social change, so all Filipino youth are welcome to join.

Anakbayan New York/New Jersey is a full-fledged chapter of Anakbayan in the Philippines and a member organization of BAYAN USA, MIGRANTE International, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), International Migrants' Alliance (IMA) and International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS).

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Email: anakbayan.nynj@gmail.com
Blogspot: http://anakbayan-nynj.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9868109595

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Anakbayan (in english: "youth of the nation") is a comprehensive mass organization that aims to build unity among Filipino youth -- immigrant, US-born/raised, student, working, LGBT, women, artists, etc -- striving for nationalism and democracy and for the promotion of cultural awareness and the advancement of rights, welfare, and social justice. All Filipino youth are agents of social change, so all Filipino youth are welcome to join.

Anakbayan New York/New Jersey is a full-fledged chapter of Anakbayan in the Philippines and a member organization of BAYAN USA, MIGRANTE International, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), International Migrants' Alliance (IMA) and International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS).

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Email: anakbayan_ny@yahoo.com
Blogspot: http://anakbayan-ny.blogspot.com
Multiply: http://anakbayannynj.multiply.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9868109595
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When Ideology is All We Have*
by Rosa Cer Dela Cruz

October 3, 2010 at 12:35am
 

Mads,

I just read Felise’s letter to you. What do you know? It got published in the Youngblood column of Inquirer on Sept. 29.

It saddened me. It was only several months back when we were talking about the entire BC batch 2006, and of their imminent career paths ahead of them. The two of us had our plans made then, and none of them included getting our career set on going mainstream. Ours is a vocation, a devotion to the masses, so we say.

But apparently, people see us differently. Even my own parents, while coming to terms with my choice, keep asking, “Is this what you want to do with your life?” (I answer back with a resolute “Yes!”)

Felise is no different from my parents. Except perhaps her conditions are a little extreme — she works in the heart of an ideological state apparatus, and as such, only she could safeguard herself from turning into such.

I realize how easy it is to vilify the Left. All the horror stories (Felise cited some), horrendous, inhumane acts these so-called communists have inflicted against the people, and even amongst themselves. We were all privy to that (or so we thought), when we entered UP, what with jokes from family and friends, telling us, “O, nakapasa ka ng UP? Baka mamundok ka pagkatapos ha.”

It isn’t as if the Left could dispute them. These are facts, written in history books and anyone who cared to write about the “radical thought” which emerged in the 70s, when many of the youth have opted to go underground and take up arms. It is also true that “purging” occurred amongst them later on, comrade turned against comrade.

Yes, it happened, and if we are to study the history of the Left more closely, they were first to admit to these. Apparently, however, the errors of the Left had been used blatantly by opportunists and military elements to make black propaganda so much easier.

Looking back, I was of the same mindset as Felise when I entered UP. I wanted nothing to do with the activists. I ignored invitations of mass organizations, choosing to go home and study rather than join the noisy crowd of protesters. But before I knew it, I was one of them. As are you, Mads.

Even as batchmates, we weren’t that close to each other. What bound us together eventually are the causes we are fighting for. And for me, such principles bind us deeper than common interests possibly could.

Yes, we both became activists, you and I — but not because of mutual anger, as Felise thought. Anger would have been too easy to forget. Rather, you may say what we felt was rage — rage against a crumbling system, a self-serving government, against inequality and injustice inherent in the current social structure. A rage fueled by compassion to our fellowmen who deserve better, and our desire to make things right.

That kind of rage wouldn’t go away when you sleep. It eats at you, gnaws at you until you realize you have to do something about it.

This is the same “rage” which drove many of the youth to take up arms, then and now. To say that mere anger and agitation drove the likes of Eman Lacaba to take up arms is an insult. I rather think it takes a lot more than anger for a young man of elevated stature in an upside-down society to leave the comforts of home and live his life in danger and uncertainty, in a decades-long armed struggle.

Many say we’ve been brainwashed. I wish we were, that everything we saw was a lie. For as a student journalist, I was forced to face harsh realities that didn’t permeate my comfort zone, things that were shown differently in media, and some that never made it to the headlines.

There were no "smokescreens." Everything was very real, and I would never forget many of them. I remember how my heart broke for the farmers of Hacienda Luisita, for the workers of Kowloon, for the nameless faces of the disappeared. How I cried when I saw the lines of people trying to buy NFA rice when the rice crisis broke in 2008.

“Why are Filipinos poor? Why do millions of families survive on less than P50 a day? Why do prices and taxes go up, but wage remains suppressed?” These questions plagued me. All of life’s injustices, as we may have termed it, explained. Finally, I found an ideology which explained what others could not.

I think back on all those jokes about taking up arms. None of them sound quite so funny now. For I, after having spent four years in UP, finally realized what activists mean when they say, “Serve the People.” In my stint as a student journalist, I have gone many places, interviewed different people. And they all tell the same tales. The so-vilified New People’s Army is a hero on the countryside, and the military — feared and hated by many.

I wonder if Felise had forgotten Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan, UP students who have been abducted by alleged military elements. I wonder if she realizes that she was guilty of redtagging you, Mads, by muddling together the legal and the armed Left as if they are one and the same.

I wonder if she remembers the horrendous killings perpetrated by the military against innocent civilians, which they set blame to communist rebels afterwards. As a writer of the Collegian, I had a chance to interview internal refugees, those who fled their communities in the countryside because of the so-called “hamleting,” a practice wherein military elements are deployed in an area to clear it of insurgents. But in actuality, all that happens is that the military terrorizes civilians, forces them to admit they are insurgents, and then forces them to become civilian agents to avoid capture.

I remember that the AFP themselves wrote an Open Letter to the Collegian following the publishing of that article, and several others, including one regarding the militarization of campuses. They even had the gall to distribute the said statement on university grounds, even when an existing accord bans them from school premises. The message was clear: We are watching your every move. We are reading your articles. We could reach you, and we could harm you. And the intention was to scare us off from making such expositions about the true nature of the military. I could only hope Felise realizes to whom she has allied herself with, Mads.

It is ironic; the government army is feared by its people. The agency sworn to protect and defend the helpless are in fact the oppressors. Is it ironic? Maybe not. After all, the AFP is sworn to loyalty to a ruling regime, and there has never been, in the history of the Philippines, a government of the people.

But I digress. If Felise truly understood us, she’d realize that being an activist is never easy. It is easier to let things be, to reason that things will change themselves if you leave them well alone. It is easier to regress to life when you knew nothing, when we scourged malls and cinemas as we sought to forget. It is easy to forget your principles than get killed by the mercenaries of the government. And yet we trudge on, knowing that behind the difficulties lies a better future, not only for us—for our families, and the rest of the masses.

The path we have chosen is difficult. As such, consider this letter as a reaffirmation of what binds us, Mads. In times of utter frustration, of demoralization, our principles remain. There is nothing wrong with going against the system. There is something wrong — in fact, everything is so very wrong with the system, and that is why we go against it. As long as injustices remain, so will our rage. And so will the rage of the people.

The AFP may silence us with the barrel of a gun, but they cannot silence the suffering that permeates this society. What did Tracy Chapman say in that song of hers? “Poor people are gonna rise up and take what’s theirs.” And so we will, Mads. So we will. Even if it takes a revolution to get there.

* This is in reply to my batch mate Felise’s Youngblood column last September 29, entitled "Ideology is Gone". Felise and I graduated last April, with a degree in BA Broadcast Communication in UP Diliman.

Aquino’s Effigy Burned for the First Time; Youth Angry over Education Budget Cut

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2010/09/26/aquino%E2%80%99s-effigy-burned-for-the-first-time-youth-angry-over-education-budget-cut/

MANILA – For the first time since he became president, Benigno S. Aquino III’s effigy was burned to the ground by thousands of students who gathered at Plaza Miranda in Manila.

“The Filipino youth are angry. We are angry because of the budget cuts,” Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino said, referring to the budget cut on state universities and colleges (SUCs).

The budget for the University of the Philippines, the country’s premier state university, has been slashed by P1.39 billion. The budget for other universities such as the Philippine Normal University and Bicol University will be slashed by 92 million and P88 million, respectively in the proposed budget for 2011.

Meanwhile, the Maintenance Operating and Other Expenses (MOOE) of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, the biggest state university with 20 campuses and a population of 65,000 students, will be slashed by P24 million. SUCs will receive no budget for Capital Outlay, which can be used to procure their much needed equipment and facilities

Thousands of students walked out from their classes on Friday, Sept. 24, to denounce the big budget cut on state colleges and universities for 2011. In Metro Manila, students from the UP, Philippine Normal University and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines led the walk out.

Private universities such as University of the East, University of Santo Tomas, Technological Institute of the Philippines, Jose Rizal University and Philippine School of Business Administration, and high School students from Culiat, Quirino, Ramon Magsaysay and Manila High School also participated in the walk out.

Students from other provinces such as in Ilocos Sur, Baguio-Benguet, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, Bicol, Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, Bacolod and Davao also walked out of their classes.

National Union of Students in the Philippines president Einstein Recedes said students will “bear the brunt of the cuts through its effects on tuition and other fee increases.”

In a statement, Budget secretary Florencio Abad said SUCs are still holding P19.1 billion in cash balances since 2009. “It means that SUCs still have funds that they can use for the mean time,” Abad said. (http://www.dbm.gov.ph/index.php?pid=3&nid=2074)

“Every Filipino youth should be studying if it is true that (SUCs) have money,” Vencer Crisostomo, Kabataan Partylist secretary general, said. He added that Abad should look into Aquino’s budget message before denying the budget cuts.

In Aquino’s budget message submitted before the 15th Congress on August 24, he said, “We are gradually reducing the subsidy to SUCs to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and to utilize it for their programs and projects.”

The Department of Budget and Management said “with scarce public funds available, the government had to prioritize closing the resource gaps in basic education, among others.” However, there seems to be no scarcity for the Department of National Defense that will receive a big chunk of the 2011 budget with an increase from P96.2 billion to P104.7 billion.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will also get an additional P10 billion and the Philippine National Police (PNP) with P6.6 billion more.

Recedes of NUSP said the state subsidy on SUCs have decreased from 87.74 percent to 67.35 percent since 2000 up to present. “In the same period, the income generated by SUCs from tuition and other fees increased from P1.16 billion to P7.04 billion.

“Is this the straight path that the Aquino administration has been referring to?” UP Student Regent Cori Co asked. (Bulatlat.com)

 

BONUS TRACKS

Cuts and dogs

Cuts and Dogs

The phrase “running dogs of imperialism” was popular during the 60s. Much earlier, Mao used this: “the running dogs of imperialism - the landlord class and bureaucratbourgeoisie, as well as the representatives of those classes...”

In the 60s this was translated to  “tuta ng mga imperyalista”. Thus, Marcos was called, “tuta ng Kano”.

Now, we have these: cuts and dogs.

In the 2011 budget, Aquino II regime proposes to increase:

1) the payments of interest of foreign debts by a whooping + P80.9 billion, which should make the IMF and World Bank and foreign lenders very happy

2) the budget of AFP  by plus P10 billion and the PNP by plus + P 6.6 billion the better to put more teeth (or guns) to the implementation of the Counter Insurgency Manual issued by the US.

On the other hand, we have these cuts in the budget for:

1) Social services by  minus P37.8 billion

2) Health services by minus P1.4 billion

3) State Universities and Colleges by minus P437 million

Of cuts and dogs, in the time of Aquino II regime.

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Here is a video of the critique of the budget cuts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJaX775Yo04&feature=player_embedded