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(Archive) UP Oblation with new source in Diliman, Quezon City. PHOTO APPLICANT / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines – A president who diverts funds from the University of the Philippines (UP) would be “legally ill,” Senator Francis Pangilinan said Wednesday.
This, after President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to cut government funding for the University of the Philippines amid calls by students for an academic strike in protest against the government’s response to the disaster.
When asked in an interview via ABS-CBN New Channel if the president can withdraw the funds from UP, Pangilinan, a lawyer, said, “No, that would be legally ill.”
‘These problems of stopping funding … sa akin kasi, they threaten you … but in the end, why are the students protesting? Let’s get back to that, ”the senator also said.
“This is not unique to the Philippines, all over the world you see student protests,” he added.
In his recorded speech that aired Tuesday, Duterte also challenged students to stop attending his classes and simply criticize the government’s inaction during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and disasters.
The Ateneo de Manila University started the online academic strike last week. The students said they plan to stop submitting the school requirements from November 18 until the national government “meets the people’s demands for adequate disaster relief and a pandemic response.”
/ MUF
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