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MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to withdraw funds from the University of the Philippines (UP) system as state academics criticized the government for its response to recent calamities, but presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the CEO I might have been a bit confused.
Roque, in an interview with CNN Philippines, said that he clarified to the president that the students from the private university Ateneo de Manila were the ones calling for a student strike and not those from the state-funded UP System.
“He too, I think, somehow confused the proponents of this academic strike. I explained to him that it was the Ateneo students who were advocating for the academic strike, “said Roque after Mr. Duterte threatened to dismiss the UP for the wrongly attributed calls.
No stranger to threats
The UP community, however, pushed their call for an early end of the semester due to the recent disasters and said they were not immune to underfunding threats that would only spark more serious protests.
But Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said there was a “unanimous consensus” among senators to consider state universities and colleges as part of “no-go zones” when it comes to the 2021 spending schedule.
“Academic freeze requests will not be met with a funding gap. The correct answer is not to underfund anyone, but to increase the funds as much as possible, ”Recto said without referring to the president’s statements.
“The amount in the proposed budget must be retained and will be compared to the floor. In other words, it can still be increased ”, he added.
Hear the pleas of the students
Kabataan representative Sara Elago, who backed the UP community’s call for an early end of the semester, said the president should stop threatening students and instead listen to their pleas.
“National student appeals are legitimate amid disasters and pandemic. We need to listen to them, not threaten. Let’s focus on the issue, Mr. President, ”Elago said in a statement.
Bayan Muna’s representative, Ferdinand Gaite, said that the president “has once again demonstrated how distant he is from the people” and lamented that critics of the administration “are threatened with underfunding while the peddlers of lies and misinformation” , like the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict and the Philippine Army, receive millions.
‘Legitimate, just’ calls
ACT Teachers representative France Castro described the student calls as “legitimate and fair” and the Duterte administration should take them seriously and not ignore them with threats of underfunding and more red labeling.
“This administration must know that it is the responsibility of the state to give young people access to their right to a quality education. The threats of underfunding of the main public university violate the right of young people to education, “he added.
But Bagong Henerasyon representative Bernadette Herrera Dy opposed the proposed academic recess, saying it would be healthier for students to continue studying rather than doing nothing at all.
“I don’t want our children to be inactive. For this reason, if there is the opportunity to make them learn continuously, I prefer to do it because there are already academic breaks in their study plan, ”he said.
“But to stop education completely because there is a pandemic, I prefer that our children study because, as I said over and over again, I do not like our children being idle because idleness will lead to things much more dangerous for our country,” he added .
The former spokesperson and representative of Taguig-Pateros, Alan Peter Cayetano, instead urged the academic communities to dialogue with the government.
“Instead of having a national or Luzon level protest, and instead of the government telling you to stop protesting, can I humbly propose a dialogue between the students and the government?” he told reporters.
Take a step back
He said that “we should all step back” and suggested that Mr. Duterte appoint two or three secretaries to lead the dialogue with students and youth groups, adding that it could be done through a virtual meeting.
Cayetano assumed that Duterte was only “speaking as a father, as a father” by stating that state academics simply continue to study “with everything that is happening.”
“But if some of the youth protests are legitimate, they shouldn’t just go back to their classrooms. We should listen to the reasons for their protests and the government should have a good response, “he added.
—With reports from Nestor Corrales and Melvin Gascon
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