SAVE OUR EDUCATION MOVEMENT- Southern Tagalog Manifesto of Unity

We, the students, youth and teachers of Southern Tagalog, believe that accessible and quality education is a basic right of every Filipino as stipulated in the Philippine Constitution.

The Philippine Constitution mandates that the education should be given the highest allocation in the national budget. Sadly, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, like its prdecessors, continues to violate these provisions.

The biggest chunk of the national budget has been alloted to debt servicing and military spending . Meanwhile, state colleges and universities (SCU's) have to cope with a meager budget.

Every year ,Iskolar ng Bayan suffer from deplorable conditions such as lack of buildings, facilities and materials, dilapilated books, over crowded classrooms, and the like. Ironically for the ISkolar ng Bayan, tuition and other fees have incerased dramatically, The most recent increase is the 300% in the University of the Philippines, tuition increases in the Southern Luzon State University. A 625% in the Polythechnic University of the Philippines is also looming.

With the dismal lack in education budget, SCUs are being forced to implement income-generating measures. This results to privatization of assets and services, collaboration with big corporations, and even the sell-out of intelectual property. Before long, these SCUs would no longer be any different from private schools for profit.

Students of private schools also suffer from escalating tution. With the reimplementation of CHED Memo. 13 , 49 schools in CALABARZON and 6 schools in MIMAROPA increased tuition this academi year with an average of 10.18% and 12.18 respectively. As a result. the average tution in CALABARZON and MIMAROPA has also increased from its previous rate of Php548.34 in tHE REGIN 4A AND 4B. These increases have taken place amid the pending implementation of the full refund of tuition and other fee increases collected under CMO14 which was declared illegal by the House Committee on Higher adn Technical Education.

As a result, the number of youth who stop schooling increases every year. This only underscores the fact that education is already a commodity and no longer a right that is being provided by the government

Meanwhile, the salary and othe compensation of teachers and non-academic personnel remain meager despite increases in the tuition and other fees.

We call for a higher subsidy to education. We appeal on the Congress and the Senate to uphold the COnstitution and allot the highest budgetary allocation to education. We also call for the allotment of at least six percent of the country's Gross National Product(GNP_ to education, a standard set by the UNESCO.

We call for a moratorium on tuition increases and other miscellanous fees. The rate of tution and the collection of various fees be investigated.

We call for the repeal of the Higher Education Act of 1997 and the Education Act of 1982 which mandate the existence of the conditions stated above.

We call for the protection of STUDENT RIGHTS and WELFARE and the AUTONOMY od STUDENT COUNCILS and publications in all schools. We call for the much-needed increase in the salary of teachers and NAP.


Alfred Benedict Suarez
Convenor- SAVE OUR EDUCATION MOVEMENT- ST