PHILIPPINES: Protests erupt over university funding cuts

28 November 2010

Students, academics and officials of state universities in the Philippines on Thursday protested against a billion-peso (US$25 million) cut to the budgets of state universities and colleges, reports ABS-CBN.

Hundreds of students and faculty gathered in front of UP Diliman's Palma Hall for the protests, and the Philippine Collegian, UP Diliman's main student publication, reported that "thousands" of students on campus had walked out of classes in support of the protests. Students and the faculty of the University of the Philippines in Manila also walked out of classrooms and marched as part of their protest. There were also protests at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.

Earlier, officials and students at the country's state universities and colleges announced they would hold a series of protest actions in their campuses to oppose the cuts, to urge the government to increase the operating and capital budgets of institutions. A total of P1.1 billion was slashed in the 2011 budget for the operations of the country's 97 universities and colleges.
Full report on the ABS-CBN site

Protests over the government's plan to cut the budgets for state universities and colleges reached all the way to Baguio City on Friday, where President Benigno Aquino III attended the opening of a popular fastfood restaurant. While Aquino was delivering a speech, more than 30 students started a noisy street protest to air their dismay over the budget cuts. Police and members of the Presidential Security Group dragged the students away, injuring 15 in the process, reports ABS-CBN.
Full report on the ABS-CBN site

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