A national teachers group joined anti-pork protests Friday in various cities in the country, on the eve of World Teachers’ Day, as they slammed President Benigno Aquino’s defense of maintaining his discretionary fund while refusing to increase their salaries.
Six Bukidnon State University (BSU) external campuses were ordered closed after they were found remiss of the basic requirement to operate an educational institution, a Commission on Higher Education Department official said on Tuesday.
“Government is fooling the students and the people when [President Benigno Aquino] said that government has no more fund for education, when he just distributed it to his political supporters,” said Arian Jane Ramos, Alyansa ng mga Aktibong Kabataan sa UP Mindanao (ANAK UP Min).
“It is not the job of congressmen to impose and implement projects such as scholarships; rather these belong to the CHED and DOH,” said Kenneth Renegado, a scholar of the Gabriela Partylist, who is also the president of the USEP League of Class Mayors.
“We want our money back. Re-channel the money to government agencies since the sole task of the legislative body of the government is just to create laws and we don’t need to transfer our addresses to the other districts just to win a scholarship from a congressman.” said Mariel Moralde, spokesperson of Anakbayan.