Makabayan senatorial bet and Nacionalista Party guest candidate Satur Ocampo today expressed full support to the ongoing protest of students against the proposed 2,000 percent tuition hike at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP).

The increase is projected to take effect next semester, and the matter will be discussed in the PUP Board of Regents meeting on March 29.

“We hope that the PUP Board of Regents will thumb down this planned tuition hike and side with the students who have no choice but to fight tooth and nail against it. A large majority of PUP students belong to working class families who will be hard put to adjust to any increase in fees. We cannot have students dropping out of school because of this,” Ocampo said.

 ”The least that can be done is to reconsider the tuition hike proposal and consultations with the students and their families should be implemented. The most socially just response to this issue, however, is to permanently forego this planned tuition fee hike and for the PUP administration to lobby for more government funds. After all, the PUP is a state-run educational institution and as such deserves all the support it can get. For many students from poor families, the PUP is their only hope of getting an education. It’s supposed to be the most accessible university with its P12 per unit tuition. This will change if tuition fees are increased. This should not be allowed to happen,” he said.

Ocampo attended the Philippine College of Commerce (PCC) which later on became the PUP.

Ocampo also slammed the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s continued thrust towards commercializing and privatizing education. In the approved 2010 national budget, the PUP’s budget was reduced by P43 million to only P661 million.

 ”This is a shameful betrayal of the interest of the Filipino youth and their right to receive free and accessible education.  Allocations for education must always increase yearly instead of being reduced. This exposes the twisted priorities of the incumbent government,” he said.

According to the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and Kabataan Party-list,  61 other schools in Luzon and Visayas will increase tuition to up to 20 percent by next semester. #