Students protest vs. economic crisis

BAGUIO CITY — A thousand students marched the streets of Baguio last Thursday, July 10, airing one grievance after another under the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, promising that this will mark the beginning of massive youth protests in the city.

Let’s take this outside! Students walk out of their classes and into the streets to protest against the economic crisis. Photo by Myko Franco Chiong/NORDIS

Decked in red, the students pushed to Malcolm Square despite the rain and attempts of police to stop and block them – at least thrice in Session Road and Magsaysay Avenue. The youth protest was held as part of a national day of action calling on the Filipino people to fight poverty and corruption and remove Arroyo.

“Today, the youth walk the talk. The crisis is unbearable. We cannot afford to be confined within the halls of the academe when our future is at stake,” said Cori Alessa Co of the National Union of Students of the Philippines. Co explains that the participation of a thousand students is a strong statement of their resurging passion to serve the people. “In this terrible situation, we choose to take this outside, into the streets,” she said.

Photo by Myko Franco Chiong/NORDIS

Also in the march, Anakbayan believes that if the weekly trend of oil price hikes continue and 50-centavo fare hikes are approved, a student will need P392 monthly for transportation alone. They say it’s like sacrificing two meals per month compared to the previous P6.00 student fare.

“We need structural reforms, not cover-up solutions like subsidies for individual families,” says Sloan Ramos, spokesperson of Anakbayan. “What we call for is the scrapping of the Oil Deregulation Law so that the government can control oil prices in the country. Subsidies are worthless if prices of basic goods like rice are too high for the public to afford anyway,” Ramos adds.

Photo by Myko Franco Chiong/NORDIS

Meanwhile, College Editors Guild of the Philippines chair Anjo Cerdeña says students and their parents are burdened further with yearly tuition and other-fees increases atop the rising prices of basic needs. “With the prices of basic commodities at an all-time high, our parents’ savings would not be enough to cover our schooling,” he said.

Cerdeña said if the Arroyo administration is sincere in giving priority to education, it would “not just speak but act for a tuition moratorium at all levels, in both public and private schools.” More so, he said Arroyo must resolve the economic crisis before it’s too late, “before students drop-out because they have no money left for school projects and other needs.”

John Silverio Saligbon, University of the Philippines Baguio Student Council chair, promised to intensify the protest in the coming weeks. He claims there is no way out of poverty under a president whose main agenda is political survival. “There is no stopping the people, toughened by the youth, in removing a morally bankrupt government and replacing it with a pro-people program of, for and by the people,” he said.# Pau Pamintuan-Riva(NorDis)