MARCH 21, 2013

NR # 3050

Solons blame SUCs budget slash for Kristels death

Lawmakers today traced the death of University of the Philippines Manila freshman Kristel Tejada to the cut imposed by the government in the budget of State Colleges and Universities (SUCs). Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan (Party-list, Gabriela) said the university's Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) is an offshoot of the cut in SUCs' budget and it is the schools coping mechanism, which unfortunately was strictly implemented without compassionate consideration for individual cases. Education as a right demands that schools exercise flexibility and maximum consideration. I blame governments lopsided priorities and the schools mechanical and insensitive implementation of a policy, Ilagan stressed. Kristel took her life on March 15 at their home in Tayuman by drinking silver cleaner after she filed a leave of absence in the middle of the second semester for failure to pay tuition fees of less than P10,000. Rep. Marcelino Teodoro (1st District, Marikina City) said the citizenry couldnt entirely put the blame on the STFAP policy of the UP System as the sole reason behind Kristels death. The way she died was a choice she made and we can never fully understand what went on in her mind for doing so. Nevertheless, the UPs scholarship policy is what one might say, ancient, that must be reviewed and revised immediately, Teodoro said. Teodoro underscored that the framers of the scholarship policy should put forth the economic considerations of its students. He said these "Iskolars ng Bayan" are not economically stable and it is only through education that they seek refuge and salvation from poverty. Teodoro emphasized that it would be ironic that UP, a government-owned university, established to help and educate poor Filipinos, deprives its students of knowledge because of financial reasons. They must stay true to their mandate so that no other student suffers the consequences of a faulty scholarship policy, Teodoro stressed. Rep. Winston Castelo (2nd District, Quezon City) said the STAFP policy lacks flexibility. Castelo said that the biggest culprit is the more than P1 billion slash in the budget of SUCs. I have openly advocated for free college education for our people. In this globalized and complex world, a college education is a matter of ultimate necessity, but free college education is a function of collected revenues, Castelo stressed. Castelo said the SUCs should continue to receive revenues to fund their requirements. (30) lvc