Police tells parents to warn kids vs. rallies
Police Regional Office Chief Gen. Ronald Roderos has called on parents not to allow their children to be involved in anti-government demonstrations.
Roderos advised the parents to verify whether their children’s activities comprise participation in public demonstration and explain to their children that rising oil prices in the world market and the increasing costs of food —two problems often mentioned by activists— are not purely domestic concerns but are actually global problems.
Roderos made the appeal amid reports that some college students of private universities in
While the police urge parents to warn their children not to join rallies, an organization of students is encouraging the student populace to participate in the mass actions this coming Monday.
The National Union of the Students in the
“Let us participate in the mobilizations and mass actions that address students’ and people’s issues. Let us give a message to those who threaten to curtail the rights and welfare of the Filipino people and youth,” NUSP-Visayas said in a press statement.
NUSP said that the “prevalent chronic crises that haunts the Filipino people has reached it full-time high,” citing, among others, the skyrocketing prices of rice and oil products that have worsened the depressing plight of the people.
But despite these problems, NUSP said that the Arroyo administration has offered “pacifiers” to the people instead of concrete solutions.
For this year alone, NUSP said that 383 out of the 1,891 private higher educational systems in the country have increased their tuition fees by an average of 10.16 percent, which pegged the present national average tuition rate at P416.57 per unit.
Since 2002, it added that tuition fees have increased by more than 10 percent a year.
“Not different from private institutions, state universities and colleges have done the same. Just last year, the University of the Philippines System has increased tuition by 300 percent. Miscellaneous and other exorbitant fees are also haunting the ‘iskolars ng bayan.’ Other SUCs are expected to follow suit leaving our students no choice but to drop out of school,” NUSP said.
The group is blaming all these to the Arroyo government, which it said is not doing something to regulate the tuition and other school fees. Worse, it added that the government is implementing policies and programs on education that caused heavy burden on the students and their parents.
“The present situation leaves no place for indifference and apathy. We can no longer place the future of our country on the hands of the corrupt and illegitimate leaders,” NUSP said.
Different militant groups will also hold protest rallies on Monday in time for the SONA of President Arroyo.
Some party-list representatives have already announced earlier that they will boycott the inaugural session of the Congress on Monday where the President is scheduled to deliver her SONA.
Opposition senators like Senate pro-tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senate minority leader Aquilino Nene Pimentel at Senador Panfilo Lacson have also announced they would not be attending the event.
Pimentel, who was in
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