Education is a Human Right
For Immediate Release
Reference: Princess Bustos, Secretary General, San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SF-CHRP)
SF-CHRP Expresses Its Strong Solidarity with the PUP Student Protestors
San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SF-CHRP) extends its deepest solidarity with the student protestors against the proposed 1,700% tuition hike at Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). SF-CHRP also strongly condemns the arrest of five student leaders in connection with the protest. These student leaders—Cheyser Soriano, Judy Anne Fabito, Pi Em Canela, Fennin Louise Umagat, and Abriel Mansilungan—aptly called the PUP 5, were among the student protestors at PUP on March 18, 2010.
After the announcement of the said tuition increase, hundreds of indignant students staged a protest at PUP, tossing broken-down chairs and desks from the fourth story of a university building and then burning them. This act of protest was a response not only to the proposed tuition increase, but also the Philippine government’s failure in its responsibility to its citizens in providing them an education that is accessible and adequate. The proposed tuition hike would raise tuition fees from P12 per unit to P200 per unit, making PUP more unaffordable for its students, the majority of whom come from poor, working class backgrounds. PUP, known for being accessible and affordable for many working class people, will not live up to that reputation with the tuition hike.
The student protestors’ relentless action in response to the tuition hike led to victory, with Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Emmanuel Angeles promising the students that the tuition hike would not be implemented. However, the aformentioned five student leaders were arrested during the series of events, charged with alleged robbery of the dilapidated chairs and desks that were burned for the protest. With these arrests, their rights to free speech and compulsory education were threatened, a clear violation of human rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, the first global declaration of rights entitled to all human beings. Article 19 of the UDHR states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” More particular to the student protestors, Article 26, section 1 states “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”
Similar to the UDHR, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is also a global commitment in upholding human rights, specifically civil and political rights of human beings. Article 19, Section 2 of the ICCPR states “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
These global covenants and declarations should be paid attention to because the Philippines is one of the countries that signed and ratified them. Yet human rights violations run rampant throughout the country, and those who are critical of the government are specifically targeted. Similar to the education system crisis in the United States, the education system in the Philippines also faces massive cuts in funding, funneled instead to the coffers of the government for purposes that do not serve the people. Instead of investing in education, the U.S. uses taxpayer money to fund military expansion. For the Philippines, the government uses military funding from the U.S. in an effort to silence dissent, resulting in over 1,000 cases of human rights violations since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed office in 2001. These human rights violations include arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing, including students and educators fighting for a better education system.
As of March 29, 2010, the PUP 5 have been freed. As a human rights organization, SF-CHRP recognizes and celebrates the relentless and militant efforts of youth and student organizations in the Philippines in fighting for their justice, resulting in the release of the PUP 5. SF-CHRP reiterates its strong solidarity with the youth and students of the Philippines in the continuing struggle for justice in education. Freedom of expression and compulsory education are basic human rights, the rights that youth and students like the PUP 5 were simply exercising as human beings, and rights that were clearly violated.
MONEY FOR EDUCATION, NOT CRIMINALIZATION!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!
Reference: Princess Bustos, Secretary General, San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SF-CHRP)
SF-CHRP Expresses Its Strong Solidarity with the PUP Student Protestors
San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SF-CHRP) extends its deepest solidarity with the student protestors against the proposed 1,700% tuition hike at Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). SF-CHRP also strongly condemns the arrest of five student leaders in connection with the protest. These student leaders—Cheyser Soriano, Judy Anne Fabito, Pi Em Canela, Fennin Louise Umagat, and Abriel Mansilungan—aptly called the PUP 5, were among the student protestors at PUP on March 18, 2010.
After the announcement of the said tuition increase, hundreds of indignant students staged a protest at PUP, tossing broken-down chairs and desks from the fourth story of a university building and then burning them. This act of protest was a response not only to the proposed tuition increase, but also the Philippine government’s failure in its responsibility to its citizens in providing them an education that is accessible and adequate. The proposed tuition hike would raise tuition fees from P12 per unit to P200 per unit, making PUP more unaffordable for its students, the majority of whom come from poor, working class backgrounds. PUP, known for being accessible and affordable for many working class people, will not live up to that reputation with the tuition hike.
The student protestors’ relentless action in response to the tuition hike led to victory, with Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Emmanuel Angeles promising the students that the tuition hike would not be implemented. However, the aformentioned five student leaders were arrested during the series of events, charged with alleged robbery of the dilapidated chairs and desks that were burned for the protest. With these arrests, their rights to free speech and compulsory education were threatened, a clear violation of human rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, the first global declaration of rights entitled to all human beings. Article 19 of the UDHR states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” More particular to the student protestors, Article 26, section 1 states “Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”
Similar to the UDHR, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is also a global commitment in upholding human rights, specifically civil and political rights of human beings. Article 19, Section 2 of the ICCPR states “Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
These global covenants and declarations should be paid attention to because the Philippines is one of the countries that signed and ratified them. Yet human rights violations run rampant throughout the country, and those who are critical of the government are specifically targeted. Similar to the education system crisis in the United States, the education system in the Philippines also faces massive cuts in funding, funneled instead to the coffers of the government for purposes that do not serve the people. Instead of investing in education, the U.S. uses taxpayer money to fund military expansion. For the Philippines, the government uses military funding from the U.S. in an effort to silence dissent, resulting in over 1,000 cases of human rights violations since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo assumed office in 2001. These human rights violations include arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing, including students and educators fighting for a better education system.
As of March 29, 2010, the PUP 5 have been freed. As a human rights organization, SF-CHRP recognizes and celebrates the relentless and militant efforts of youth and student organizations in the Philippines in fighting for their justice, resulting in the release of the PUP 5. SF-CHRP reiterates its strong solidarity with the youth and students of the Philippines in the continuing struggle for justice in education. Freedom of expression and compulsory education are basic human rights, the rights that youth and students like the PUP 5 were simply exercising as human beings, and rights that were clearly violated.
MONEY FOR EDUCATION, NOT CRIMINALIZATION!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!
LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!