Anakbayan US Chapters' Statement on the Tuition Fee Increase in the Philippines

PRESS STATEMENT

May 25, 2008

Reference:
Bev Tang e-mail: bev@anakbayanla.org

Jonna Baldres e-mail: jonnabebeh@gmail.com

The US-based chapters of ANAKBAYAN today express solidarity with the Filipino youth and students in condeming the Arroyo government's neglect of the Philippine educational system through it's continuing increase of tuition fees.

We also express our unity and overwhelming support for the student protest against tuition fee increase.

As overseas Filipinos, we are concerned about the plight of our fellow youth. As the Philippine education crisis worsens, it is setting a trap for the future of the Filipino youth.

While the Philippine educational system is already geared towards developing an army of well-equipped and well-educated professionals for employment abroad, the government's neglect to provide affordable higher education for the rest is designed to provide a steady supply of vulnerable workforce ready to take on jobs for various factories and other semi-skilled employment in other countries since it is also incapable of providing jobs at home.

We join the calls and demands of ANAKBAYAN, Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan, League of Filipino Students (LFS), National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) in protesting the meaningless pronouncement of the Arroyo government and in condemning all unecessary tuition fee increases.

ANAKBAYAN-Los Angeles, CA San Diego, CA, New York/New Jersey
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