4 UP Manila students barred from graduating after failing to pay tuition on time

MANILA, Philippines - Four University of the Philippines (UP) Manila students, including a former representative to the university’s highest policy-making body, are reportedly being barred from graduating after they failed to pay their tuition on time.

Former student regent Cleve Arguelles, a senior political science student, said the UP Manila administration will not allow him and three other students from settling their financial obligations as the deadline for payment has already lapsed.

“(They said) it will violate the no late payment policy and our case might also set a precedent for other students,” he said.

Arguelles– who had an outstanding balance of around P15,000– said it was only him and Christian Durana who want their names to be released at the moment.

In a News5 report, Durana said the university did not accept his P7,000 as payment for tuition as it is already delayed.

“We’re in a state university. Poor people like us should be taken care of. But what happens is that we are being seen and judged based on our financial commitment to the university,” he said in Filipino.

In the same report, UP Vice President for Public Affairs Prospero De Vera was quoted as saying that “UP Manila Chancellor (Manuel Agulto) is already addressing the issue upon the advice of UP President (Alfredo) Pascual and decisions will be made in the next few days.”

UP Manila public information Tony Leachon, who is currently out of the country, has yet to respond to requests for comment regarding the matter.

Arguelles started a petition on online platform Change.org asking the UP Manila administration to allow them to graduate and repeal the 'No Late Tuition' policy of the university.

The text of the petition was lifted from the open letter of the faculty of UP Manila’s political science program asking Agulto to allow the students to settle their financial obligations.

“These students and their families are in dire financial situation but they persevered throughout this academic year to attend their classes and meet all course requirements expected of a UP student,” read the petition which has over 500 supporters as of Tuesday afternoon.

The petition noted that it was UP Manila Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Josephine de Luna who said approving the request would set precedent for late payments and it would violate the university’s No Late Tuition policy.

“The university has nothing to gain in preventing poor, working students like them from graduating due to inability to pay tuition on time. For these students, their college diploma could be the only hope left for their families to overcome destitution,” it added.

The petition said that “no graduating student should be barred from attending the commencement exercises solely for the reason of financial incapacity or failure to pay tuition on time.”

“The university should even be more supportive of indigent, working students who, despite of their poverty, struggle to live up to the university's mantra of honor and excellence,” it added.

Among the supporters of the online petition is Christopher Tejada, father of UP Manila behavioral sciences student Kristel Tejada who committed suicide last year allegedly due to tuition woes.

“My daughter, Kristel Pilar Mariz P. Tejada who committed suicide last year, was a victim of this No Late Payment policy,’” said Tejada in the petition page.

“These were the same words from the same person who advised us to let Kristel (file) her leave of absence last year,” he said, referring to the alleged reason of De Luna in denying the request of the graduating students.

Kristel was a behavioral science freshman in UP Manila when she committed suicide by drinking silver cleaner at their home in Tondo, Manila on March 15, 2013. She was declared dead at the Metropolitan Medical Center.

The alleged reason: she was forced to take a leave of absence because her family could not pay their P10,000 outstanding balance to the university.

Former faculty regent Judy Taguiwalo also expressed support for the petition, saying “UP is a public university and should support academically excellent but poor students.”

“Because justice for Kristel Tejada means not repeating what UP Manila administrators did to Kristel,” she added.

Earlier, Tejada said the supposed measures introduced by the UP administration following her daughter’s death were mere “band-aid solutions” to the problems faced by a lot of students who do not have the capacity to pay for their education.

Following the incident, the administration of UP President Alfredo Pascual pushed for changes in tuition policy, particularly in the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program which sets the amount of tuitions that students have to pay based on their socio-economic station.

In December, the UP Board of Regents voted on the approved the amendments to the university code to remove policies that barred students from registering from classes if they fail to settle their balances.

The revision noted that “in no instance shall a student who has unpaid loan obligations due to financial incapacity… be barred from registering for, and attending, his/her classes.”

And while the amendments allowed students who fail to pay tuition to attend classes, Arguelles noted that it did not actually repeal the “No Late Tuition” policy.

“During my term (as student regent), I already appealed to the Board to repeal this policy because of the issue of Kristel Tejada. We do not learn from our mistakes. Now is the time to finally repeal it,” he said.

Arguelles noted that the consequences of the amendments to the code and the continued existence of the “No Late Tuition” policy would mean that students will be able to participate in classes but their efforts will not be recognized in the end because the university will not accept late payment of tuition anyway.

“The policy is classist and anti-poor. Even in private schools, they allow promissory notes and late payment of tuition. Why not in UP, which is a state university?” he said.

“UP has the responsibility to ensure democratic access to UP education. And I don't (think) this policy is fulfilling that mandate. With the high cost of tuition in UP compared to other State Us, UP has to provide all the necessary conditions to support poor students,” he said.