Press Release

June 5, 2008

 

Students stage mock 'NFA Pila' to protest high rice prices and school fees

“Dili lang diay bugas ang ginapilahan, kay ginakilo naman pud diay ang mga pangandoy ug kaugmaon.”

 

DAVAO CITY–Students here staged today a mock line-up (“pila”) similar to that seen on National Food Authority (NFA) retailer stores as a protest against the soaring prices of basic commodities such as rice and oil and continued increases tuition and other fees.

 

Converging at a university gate in this city, the student protesters formed the mock “pila” after a made-up window labeled  as “FINANCE” instead of NFA. But, as in a regular NFA retailer store, the protesters displayed a weighing scale at the window. The protesters said the set-up would like to portray the irony of the pile of consumers in the NFA retailer stores and the line up of students in Finance offices inside schools.

 

“Like hungry consumers queueing for supply of rice in NFA outlets, students hungry for knowledge are also lining up for quality education, only to find out that what they paid is not really what they get in return. The government has failed to provide the youth and students free or affordable education.  Tuition and Other Fees Increase (TOFI) are rampant in private schools and among state colleges and universities (SCUs) as well,” said Nisa Opalla, spokesperson of i.defy.

 

Opalla added the government has already failed in providing its citizen affordable food to eat and a wage enought for a decent living. Protesters expressed the angst of the Filipino youth against the futile attemps of the Arroyo administration to provide accessible and quality education and basic commodities.

 

“Parents as well as students are suffering the chronic economic illnesses manifested by the crisis in rice that will reach almost 60 pesos per kilo this July. Also, oil increases have been difficult for the youth because it will again add up to the expenses of a ordinary student,” said Karlos Manlupig of Anakbayan Davao City.

 

“TOFI will be a heavy burden to our parents as they struggle through crisis in the economy specifically in the rocketing prices of rice in Mindanao and the worsening figures in oil increase,” Opalla said.

 

The protest is led by i.defy, an alliance of youth and students initiated by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) to expose and oppose attacks against the basic rights and welfare of youth and students and the Filipino people.

 

The alliance said that the ongoing rice crisis and economic issues is making the situation of the youth and students more difficult as they face the opening of classes with tuition and other fees increase in both private and state colleges and universities.

 

The alliance said that almost all private schools here in Davao have increased their tuition and other fees, as approved by the Commission on Higher Education last February. Ateneo de Davao University, which has increased 6% of its tuition, University of Mindanao  by 10%  and Brokenshire College to almost 20% to both tuition and miscellaneous fees are just some of the private college schools that has increased for this school year. State colleges and universities, however, have increased higher. TOFI in the University of the Philippines in Mindanao have increased 300% while the University of Southeastern Philippines with 33.3%.

 

“There will be more student actions and protests as long as the crisis continues to haunt the youth, students and the Filipino people,” said Manlupig.###

 

 

 

For Reference:

 

Leigh Dalugdog

Media Officer, i.defy: youth and students alliance

Vice President for Mindanao, College Editors Guild of the Philippines

+639109136556

 

 

College Editors Guild of the Philippines

Six-month Plan
December 2007 to May 2008
3rd National Council Meeting
Under the 33rd National Student Press Congress
December 19-22, 2007 at the Sacred Heart Novitiate, Fairview, Quezon City

Organizing Work

1. In Central Luzon, a CL-wide journalism festival should be held. Chapters in Pampanga and Tarlac should be formed while an ad-hoc committee should be established in Pangasinan.
2. The National Office will help for the re-establishment of Bulacan chapter.
3. In Bataan, activities should be done for the consolidation of members.
4. Contact-building in Cagayan Valley must be started through the help of Isabela chapter.
5. In Southern Tagalog-- Cavite, Laguna, Marinduque and Batangas are targets to become chapters.
6. Contact building must be started in Rizal.
7. In Bicol, the regional and provincial chapters must be formed.
8. In Baguio-Benguet, Cordillera building must be done. Activities like poetry reading, exhibit and other creative form of consolidations should be held.
9. In Ilocos, regional chapters must be founded.
10.  In Visayas, a provincial chapter must be established in Leyte while an ad-hoc committee must be created in Bohol. The Northern Samar should be transformed into chapter. 

(Due to the failure of sending any representative, a Minadanaowide e-conference with the National Office must be scheduled.)

Campaign

On the Campus Press Freedom and Press Freedom

    1. The Tandem, the official student publication of the University of Northern Philippines in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur is the national campaign publication.

    2. All chapters are urged to pressure the UNP administration by sending mails (snail or e-mail).

    3. Every chapter should identify a campaign pub/s in their area.

    4. All chapters should actively participate to the issue of the mainstream media.

On the Campus Journalism Act of 1991

     1. A discussion paper on the CJA of 1991 must be prepared by the National Office, which will be disseminated to all chapters in the soonest possible time.

    2. The National Office must publish a new Kartilya, the political journal of the Guild.

    3. Campus Press Freedom violations documentation must be immediately prepared and released by the National Office. To avoid delays, all chapters must send their reports as early as possible and maintain tight correspondence to the National Office. 

Tuition and other Fees/ Education Budget / People’s issues

      1. All chapters should spearhead the establishment of Tuition Monitor, a network that provides guidance for student organizations during their tuition consultation.

      2. The National Office should prepare Guidelines for Campus press regarding the tuition consultation.

      3. All chapters should hold a media activity on February 1, the agreed National Day of Action (NDA) in connection to the ailing situation of campus press freedom. 

      4. Every chapter should partake to the people’s issues through conducting forum, exhibit, cultural night, joining protests and publishing the following issues in our member or non-member student gazettes: 

Oil Price Hike
Political Killings/ Repression
GARB (Genuine Land Reform Bill or HB 3059)
Local Issues (Mining, Militarization, etc.)
Human Security Act/ Anti-Subversion Law
Cha-Cha
Wage
Gender-related issues

     5. Be creative in campaigning: it can be a poetry-reading, art/photo exhibit, thematic   poster making, thematic literary contest, film viewing, staging a play, e-campaigning or any form that is close to the heart of our members in our respective area.

 Education

1.       Uphold the ATAEP curriculum.

A.     Offer BJST and I/AJST to member and non-member publications

B.      Cater  political discussions to publications and students

2.      Hold provincial/ regional education festivals.

3.      Hold forum and symposium in schools regarding the burning issues concerning our campaign such as corruption, commercialization of Philippine education, Oil Price Hike, and Wage Increase.

4.      Local secretariat should be given discussion regarding Philippine Social Realities.

 

Media Work

1. Every chapter should release regularly a statement on pressing issues. It can be a tit-for-tat, letter to the editor, news release, and press statement for both local and national press. Every statement should be sent too, to the cegpnational@yahoo.com so that the National Office will always be updated.
2. Radio hopping and tv appearance should be achieved to popularize a certain campaign, activity and the Guild.
3.  It is advisable for the chapters/individuals to have a website or web blog for easy access of members and media to information.
4. Every chapter should have their own local guilder publication, for example the Ilocos has Ilocos Guilder and the NCR has Metro Guilder. We should always include our affiliation with the Asian Students Association (ASA).
5. Maximize every opportunity where we can make our campaigns cross the board through contributing article to, say, youngblood or to any publication accommodating contributions.
6. Establish and maintain a harmonious relationship with the media in our area so we can easily tell them our campaigns and got chance of being published or reported.
7. To become an effective media officer (there should be a media officer in our chapter who will focus on this task so as to other fields), we can invite alumni who work in the mainstream press or writing for a certain group or any critical writer in our place to conduct a workshop. 
   

Finance Work

1. Collect annual membership fee: institutional fee (which will be remitted to the National Office) and regional fee which will be determined by the local chapter.
2. Systematize the collection of Institutional and Regional Fees.
3. Create interim and long-term project proposals to augment the finances of the organization.

     4.      Seek financial support from the alumni and other institutions aside from local politicians.

     5.      Create an income generating projects like selling of button pins, I.D lace, T-shirt, bookmarks, reporter’s notebook and rendering services, for instance lay-outing, T-shirt printing etc.

     6.      Conduct a student press convention in your area where you can generate funds not just from the registration fee but also from sponsorships and solicitations. As much as possible, have the registration fee affordable. Our prime objective on holding a confab is to educate-- and minimal cost, more often than not attracts many participants.

 Alliance Work

1. Strengthen alliances with the mainstream media and writers’ organizations. Maximize these media alliances for propaganda and publication.
2. Establish local formations of TANGGULAN, a youth network for civil liberties, human rights. This will help the local formation in documenting HR violations in the local level.
3. Initiate the formation of alliances in schools that promotes the rights and welfare of the students. In the height of campus repressions especially CPFVs (campus press freedom violations), the alliance will be the fountain of ideas and actions in defending the democratic rights of the students.  
4. Assist university publications in establishing system-wide/ university-wide alliance of publications.
5. Hold activities with other cause-oriented organizations-- say, exhibit, poetry-reading, forum etc.

BMI

1. Organize programs on basic masses integration.
2. Encourage BMIs during student press conventions.

INTERNATIONAL WORK

1. Promote the ASA and its objectives.
2. Establish contact with media organizations abroad.
3. Forge unities with other youth, students and writers organizations abroad.
4. Release statement of support on the struggle of other citizens in the world.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

1. Initiate the formation of local CEGP Alumni Association.
2. Initiate the writing of history of the CEGP local formations. Before making the history available to the public—it is recommended that the National Office see first the copy to share some insights. It will better if it is written in both local language and English. 
3. Encourage publications from different formations to submit entries to the Tumbang Preso and to other projects of the National Office.
4. Publish leaders’ guides/ manuals on chapter-building, on how to establish and re-open closed student publications and on how to design a campaign.