thoughts on tofi

this is really a very big issue; it's hard not to turn an indifferent head away from it. so many people are speaking up against the tuition fee increase, but i'm not one of them. i would just like to highlight a few points why, in principle, i'm for the tfi.

let those who can afford pay what they can afford. it's not really fair that a rich kid pays the same small tuition fee (which is roughly just his two-week allowance) as the not-so-affluent kid. the fee increase is not really constructed so that the UP admin will earn from us, nay, the tfi is simply taking out the state subsidy from those who can afford to pay full tuition.

by then, funds that are used to subsidize these rich kids' tuition fees will be allocated for other purposes, such as improving UP's facilities and funding research and development. sadly, though, the tfi will not in any way increase our professors' salaries, since these are still standardized by the government.

but of course, the stfap has to be reevaluated and reviewed to fit the current times. with the tuition fee increase (for the affluent) must also come a tuition fee decrease (for the not-so-affluent). hey, we pay taxes the same way, why not also pay tuition fees in the same way, too?

our administration must come up with an expansive and extensive stfap, one that will cover all ground of social classes and incomes. the tfi will fail in its purpose of wanting to be pro-poor by not defining who the poor is. the tfi is going to be implemented, but i would not let it be implemented without the reevaluation of the stfap.

this fight is not anymore about greater state subsidy; it's more than that. it's helping UP survive.

let's face it: our corrupt and filthy government will not look out for us. budget cut by budget cut, and even with the increase in taxes, UP's budget, well, has not yet budged from its current state. and the people have a legitimate reason not to fund UP. where do we pool our rich intellectualities? where do we go after we graduate? who benefits from the hard-earned training and education we get from the people's taxes? the people pay for our education yet we let ourselves be pirated by the first world countries that suck the economy out of third world swamps.

i'm not saying everybody is like that. i applaud the people who would not let themselves be pirated by others. i commend the people who, in spite of the poverty-stricken land that we all live in, still have hope for us, and provide us with hope simply because they have not left us alone.

this post will probably (and hopefully) open up debates. it's high time that we speak up. and the media is making a big ruckus out of this circus, and influencing the people about wrong notions and mixed-up facts.

here is my stand: go for the tuition fee increase, but reevaluate the stfap first.

march 6, 2007: don't forget to exercise your right to vote! bring your UP i.d. or form 5.