Kabataan Partylist

The Kabataan Party said the Education department’s own class size formula is to be blamed for the growing achievement gap and poor performance of public schools students.

“DepEd’s pupil-classroom ratio currently pegged at 45 to 1 is already worrisome. Instead of resolving the shortage of classrooms, the Arroyo government has institutionalized overcrowding in public school classrooms,” Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said.

“What’s ironic is while countries all over the world are spending billions to reduce their public schools’ class size, our government wants to double it.”

Citing a report from the American Educational Research Association, Palatino said smaller classes can shrink the achievement gap and lead to reduced grade retention and less dropping out.

The same study shows that the ideal number of students in a class is 13 to 17 and should start in preschool or first grade.

Palatino said the National Education Association in the United States is also pushing for a class size of 15 students in regular programs.

He also cited a class size study in Tennessee called the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project which showed that students attending small classes in the early grades make more rapid educational progress than students in larger classes, and that these achievement gains persist well after students move on to larger classes in later grades.

“It’s common sense that students learn more when qualified teachers teach smaller classes. Teachers with small classes can spend time and energy helping each child succeed. Smaller classes also enhance safety, discipline and order in the classroom.”

Meanwhile, Palatino scored DepEd’s current class scheme which he says will only lead to a further decline in the quality of education in public schools.

“DepEd’s policy does not address the serious inadequacy of classrooms or the declining quality of education. Instead it is creating an illusion that classroom shortage in public schools is gradually being reduced by using a shift system and increasing the maximum capacity of classrooms,” he pointed out.

“How do we expect elementary and high school students to be competent if they would only be studying on a half-day basis or worse just four hours for schools with three to four classroom shift? No wonder most grade 6 pupils have the competenci es of those in grade 4.”

DepEd figures show that only 20 percent of grade 6 have the competencies of grade 6.

Students rush towards Mendiola Bridge leading to the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines to protest tuition fee increases imposed by schools around the country on Monday June 4, 2007, the opening day of classes for the school year 2007-2008. About 20 million students troop back to schools Monday with protesters assailing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the alleged deteriorating quality of education in the country. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Riot police clash with students who stormed the Mendiola Bridge leading to the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines to protest tuition fee increases imposed by schools around the country on opening of classes for the school year 2007-2008 Monday June 4, 2007. About 20 million students troop back to schools Monday with protesters assailing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the alleged deteriorating quality of education in the country. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Students try to hold back riot police as they are pushed away after storming the Mendiola Bridge leading to the Presidential Palace in Manila, Philippines to protest tuition fee increases imposed by schools around the country on Monday June 4, 2007, the opening of classes for the school year 2007-2008. About 20 million students troop back to schools Monday with protesters assailing Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for the alleged deteriorating quality of education in the country. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Back-to-school woes worse than ever - youth groups
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Despite the government’s “business-as-usual” attitude, militant youth groups scored the government for abandoning the country’s education system as shown by the continued lack of classrooms, facilities and teachers.

Kabataan party and the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) cited United Nations figures showing the classroom-to-student ratio in the Philippines still pales in comparison to other Asian countries.

“The DepEd claims the government is prepared for the school opening but the dismal state of classrooms and facilities and the severe shortage of teachers in public elementary and high schools nationwide say otherwise,” Kabataan Party Vice President Carl Marc Ramota said in a statement.

Yet, he said classrooms in the Philippines is among the most crowded in Asia, as shown by data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.

He said UNESCO figures show that class size in the Philippine public elementary schools (43.9) pales in comparison to Malaysia (31.7), Thailand (22.9), Japan (28.6) and even in India (40).

The disparity between the Philippines and other Asian countries in class size was even bigger in the high school level, he said.

In the same survey, the country registered an average high school class size of 56.1, higher than Malaysia’s 34, Thailand’s 41.5, Japan’s 33.9 and India’s 39.

“The same problems continue to haunt the education sector year after year. The shortages in classrooms and chairs worsened with the transfer of students from private to public schools. Many middle-income families that cannot afford the high tuition in private schools are transferring their children to the public schools, which offer free tuition and books,” he said.

Even DepEd’s own studies reveal that public schools nationwide are in decrepit
conditions. Some 80 percent of them have no running water, 60 percent have no toilets, 40 percent have no ceilings and 50 percent have no electricity.

Ramota said government misprioritization and poor education spending aggravated by rampant graft and corruption were to be blamed for worsening crisis in education.

In 2004, education spending dropped to 14.9 percent of the national budget from 19.3 percent in 1997 and it continued to decline ever since, he said.

On the other hand, government spending on debt payments shot up from 15.9 percent in 1997 to almost 40 percent of the national budget at present.

Ramota said the Philippine government is spending only an average of 3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product on public educational institutions.

In 2003, the country spent a measly 3.3 percent for education. This pales in comparison to its neighboring countries Malaysia (7.4 percent) and Thailand (4 percent). It is also lower than the 4 percent average for all countries that were included in the World Education Indicators in 2006.

The minimum prescribed standard for education spending set by UNESCO is 6 percent of a country’s GDP.

Also, Ramota said the Philippines is also lagging behind its Asian counterparts in public expenditure on education as a percentage of total public spending.

At all levels of education, the Philippines is only spending 17.2 percent compared to Thailand’s 40 percent and Malaysia’s 28 percent, he said.

Translating this into expenditures per student, he said the same study shows that the Philippine education spending is still way below its Asian competitors.

The country spends 500, 505 and 1,717 dollars (purchasing power parity) for primary education, secondary education and tertiary education, respectively.

The Philippines lags behind Malaysia (1,830, 2,920 and 10,792 dollars) and Thailand (3,442, 2,484 and 4,474 PPP dollars).

“The government has been formulating several education policies and programs with the aim of improving the quality of education in the country but it is missing the most important and decisive factor to meet this goal – spending more on education. Unfortunately, government spending on education has been the complete opposite in the past years,” he said.

“Education is an avowed priority of the State but under the present administration, like its predecessors, it does not draw an ounce of sympathy from the authorities,” he added. - GMANews.TV

Much to the consternation of various youth groups, some public schools that are supposed to provide free education are now charging tuition and other fees. The age-old problems of teacher shortage and lack of facilities, along with higher tuition, are more than enough basis for the protest actions being organized in time for the opening of classes this June.

BY AUBREY MAKILAN
Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 17, June 3-9, 2007
http://www.bulatlat.com/2007/06/no-free-basic-education-public-high-schools-charge-higher-tuition-other-fees

No less than Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz said that collection of school fees is not a prerequisite to enrollment in public elementary and high schools where students enjoy free tuition.

But Aling Nena (who requested anonymity for fear that the school administration might get back at her children) even paid a much higher “tuition” this year for her two daughters at Lawang Bato High School, a public school in Valenzuela City.

Last year, she said she paid P100 ($2.17, based on an exchange rate of P46.08 per US dollar) as tuition. This enrollment, it increased to P200 ($4.34), excluding the Parents-Teacher Association (PTA) fee of P100 ($2.17).

Aside from that, she said parents also complained to the Department of Education (DepEd) about the cost of the school uniform. Aling Nena said that in the recent PTA meeting, the school administration and the parents agreed that only the costs of the uniforms of the freshmen will increase.

However, they discovered that the school changed the uniform for sophomores, requiring the latter’s parents to order new sets of uniforms from the school. Aling Nena was dismayed that her sophomore daughter could no longer use her old uniform. And since a new set of uniform costs P450 ($9.77) each for small size, she might be forced to spend P900 ($19.53) if her daughter were to have two sets which she will use for the whole week.

Lapuz said that “contributions, whether for student activities or for upgrading of school facilities, can only be collected from students on a voluntary basis.”

At Paso de Blas Elementary School, a public school also in Valenzuela, P20 ($0.43) is being collected upon enrolment for the repainting of the school, said Mercy, a parent of a Grade II student. She said others who could not really afford the P20 ($0.43) would not pay. “Pero paano ka naman tatanggi kapag kaharap mo na ang teacher?” she said, noting that it might have a negative impact on her child’s relationship with the teacher. (But how can you refuse if you are in front of the teacher?)

For her daughter studying at Maysan National High School, another public school in Valenzuela, she paid “tuition” amounting to P200 ($4.34). The receipt, however, only reflected an amount of P190 ($4.12). She was told that the remaining P10 ($0.22) was for the school paper.

The DepEd said that public schools are authorized to collect fees only for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Red Cross and the Anti-TB campaign and these are “voluntary.” Contributions for school papers should not be more than P55 and P80 ($1.19 and $1.74) for elementary and secondary levels, respectively. DepEd-recognized student organizations are also allowed to collect “voluntary contributions” up to P55 ($1.19) per student.

The DepEd Oplan Balik Eskwela (Operation Back to School) Command Center reported that it is now investigating several public schools after receiving complaints about the illegal collection of fees in these schools. Among those being investigated are Novaliches Elementary School (ES), Krus na Ligas ES, Barangay Holy Spirit ES, Commonwealth ES, San Antonio ES and Lagro National High School in Quezon City.

Hiding shortages?

Aside from the tuition and fee increases, students also suffer from shortages of teachers, classrooms and facilities.

Lapus said that there is no teacher shortage this school year for primary and secondary public schools. “With 16,390 new teachers, we actually eliminated the problem of shortage of teachers in the public school system.”

The proposed teaching post allocation is broken down into 8,586 for elementary schools and 7,804 for high schools. Region 4-A gets the most number of new teachers with 3,850, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 2,583. Central Luzon is third with 1,598 new teaching allocations.

But youth organizations are doubtful if the shortage was really filled up. The groups said that just last year, the DepEd data pegged the shortage of teachers at 49,699, classroom shortage at 57,930 and armchair shortage at 3.48 million.

Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said the Philippines has one of the lowest per capita spending for education in Asia at P3,557 ($77.19). “That means less than P10 ($0.22) per day for every student.”

“Dagdag-bawas”

Not just a prevalent practice in elections, “dagdag-bawas” (“addition-subtraction” or “vote padding-vote shaving”) also victimizes the education sector, Palatino said.

Palatino said that private tertiary schools have allegedly long developed and perfected its own “dagdag-bawas” machinery with yearly tuition hikes.

The youth leader said that reports of tuition increases involving hundreds of schools nationwide only confirmed what they said earlier that the anomalous suspension of the tuition cap early this year would be used by school owners to increase tuition beyond the inflation rate.

Reports from the League of Filipino Students (LFS), National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and Anakbayan (Sons and Daughters of the People) revealed that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) approved tuition increases in 88 schools in the NCR.

Palatino said that the CHED, Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) and the Arroyo administration connived to suspend the implementation of CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 14 and subsequent amendments CMO 42 and CMO 7 which prohibited private schools from increasing their tuition above the 6.2-percent inflation rate.

He questioned the timing of the suspension last Feb. 20 as it came out in the middle of tuition consultations in various private schools and after COCOPEA’s meeting with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a week earlier.

“Even state universities, which are supposed to accommodate poor but deserving students, have increased their tuition,” said Vencer Crisostomo, LFS national chairperson. “As a result, many deserving students have not been able to enroll.”

At the University of the Philippines, tuition increased from P300 to P1,000 ($6.51 to $21.70) per unit.

At the Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology (EARIST), the tuition increased from P15 to P100 ($0.33 to $2.17) per unit, said sisters Irene and Angie Benjamin. They added that miscellaneous fees for old students also increased.

Drop outs

If the “dagdag” scheme meant “tuition padding,” the youth group said that the decrease in the number of enrollees and the corresponding upsurge in the number of dropouts and out-of-school youth led to “bawas” (reduction). “With higher tuition rates and more preventive (prohibitive) fees being charged both in public and private institutions, we fear that the number of drop outs will double this coming semester,” warned Palatino.

According to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation, the worsening economic conditions in the country have denied millions of children the right to a decent education as shown by increasing drop out rates.

Data from the Department of Education showed that dropout rates, which had been steadily improving during the 1990s, worsened since the year 2000. It reached 10.6 percent in the elementary level and 15.8 percent in the secondary level in school year (SY) 2005-2006. Comparing these rates to enrolment figures during the same year would show that as many as 2.4 million children may have dropped out of school last year, said Ibon.

Ibon said that majority of those who dropped out came from public schools. Enrolment in public elementary schools fell by 106,903 in SY 2005-2006 while that in public secondary schools decreased by 64,746.

Palatino said that the trend for the past 10 years showed that for every 10 pupils who enrolled in grade school, only seven graduated. “Students drop out because of poverty. While basic education is free, many poor families are unable to finance the auxiliary school needs of their children.”

Citing the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FEIS), Palatino said Filipinos are now allocating less for their education.

He said the average spending of families on school fees, books and supplies fell to 4.0 percent from 4.2 percent during the three-year period as average family income in the country also declined 10 percent between 2000 and 2003. Before the turn of the millennium, the share of educational expenses had been gradually increasing, he said.

“Unfortunately, most Filipino families now have to make a choice between sending their children to school and spending their meager income on food in order to survive. Poverty and government neglect have made education a luxury to many of our countrymen,” Palatino said.

Because of this, many of these children might have been forced to leave school to earn a living, Ibon said. In 2006, it reported that some 2.5 million children aged 5 to 17 were working either to augment family income or simply to survive. It added that the number of children in schools is also dropping: in SY 2005-2006 only 84 percent of children aged 6-11 was able to attend elementary school, a sharp decrease from the 90 percent recorded in 2001-2002.

“The declining number of children who are able to go to school reflects their vulnerability to economic difficulties which have been worsening during the last six years of the Arroyo administration,” Ibon said. “Among the country’s basic sectors, the biggest number of poor people is found among the children, with some 14.1 million of them considered poor.”

This school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) estimated an enrolment of 13.24 million in the elementary level. Of this, 12.18 million will go to public schools while 1.06 million will enroll in private schools. For the secondary level, there is a projected 6.43 million enrollees with 5.13 million set to go to public high schools, while 1.3 million will be taken in by private secondary high schools, Lapus said.

Military deployment

Militant youth activists also protested the planned redeployment of military troops in Metro Manila schools for the class opening.

Palatino and Crisostomo said the military deployment in schools is related to the implementation of the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007 which is “intended to target progressive student organizations, student councils and publications that are critical of the Arroyo administration.”

He cited cases where youth activists have been victimized allegedly by the military like the murder of two Kabataan poll watchers in Camarines Norte in May; the brutal killings of known Bicol student leaders Cris Hugo, Farly Alcantara and Reimon Guran; and abduction of UP student activists Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

“We fear that this could lead to an escalation of human rights violations against known student activists and even members of student councils and campus publications,” Palatino said, noting that this might also have an impact on the psychological well-being of students.

“Military troops have no place in academic institutions. Schools are not war zones. We will not allow this government to transform our schools into military camps.

The militant youth organizations warned that the military will get more than the eggs and mud Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon got when he went to UP.

Protests

Meanwhile, Palatino called on elected district representatives and soon-to-be senators to make good their promises and prove their claims during the campaign period that they are for making education accessible to the youth by prioritizing the resolution of the “tuition hike crisis” when Congress opens.

The youth groups called on lawmakers “to join the students’ clamor for an end to unabated tuition and other fee increases and to conduct an immediate investigation on the suspension of the tuition cap.”

Kabataan Party and other student groups are gearing up for huge protests on June 4 and 13 to mark the beginning of classes at the basic and tertiary levels, respectively. Bulatlat

Back-to-school woes worse than ever

While the Department of Education adopted a “business-as-usual” attitude in explaining preparations for the school opening, the Kabataan Party and the National Union of Students of the Philippines said students and teachers are also getting ready on Monday to take the government to task for its abandonment of education as they provide an alternative analysis of the country’s educational system.

“DepEd claims the government is prepared for the school opening but the dismal state of classrooms and facilities and the severe shortage of teachers in public elementary and high schools nationwide say otherwise,” Kabataan Party Vice President Carl Marc Ramota said.

Ramota said classrooms in the Philippines is among the most crowded in Asia.

Data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics show that class size in the Philippine public elementary schools (43.9) pales in comparison to Malaysia (31.7), Thailand (22.9), Japan (28.6) and even in India (40).

He said the disparity between the Philippines and other Asian countries in class size was even bigger in the high school level. In the same survey, the country registered an average high school class size of 56.1, higher than Malaysia’s 34, Thailand’s 41.5, Japan’s 33.9 and India’s 39.

” The same problems continue to haunt the education sector year after year. The shortages in classrooms and chairs worsened with the transfer of students from private to public schools. Many middle-income families that cannot afford the high tuition in private schools are transferring their children to the public schools, which offer free tuition and books.”

He said DepEd’s own studies reveal that public schools nationwide are in decrepit
conditions. Some 80 percent of them have no running water, 60 percent have no toilets, 40 percent have no ceilings and 50 percent have no electricity.

Ramota said government misprioritization and poor education spending aggravated by rampant graft and corruption were to be blamed for worsening crisis in education.

In 2004, education spending dropped to 14.9 percent of the national budget from 19.3 percent in 1997 and it continued to decline ever since, he said. On the other hand, government spending on debt payments shot up from 15.9 percent in 1997 to almost 40 percent of the national budget at present.

He added that the Philippine government is spending only an average of 3 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product on public educational institutions. In 2003, the country spent a measly 3.3 percent for education. This pales in comparison to its neighboring countries Malaysia (7.4 percent) and Thailand (4 percent). It is also lower than the 4 percent average for all countries that were included in the World Education Indicators in 2006.

The minimum prescribed standard for education spending set by UNESCO is 6 percent of a country’s GDP.

Ramota said the Philippines is also lagging behind its Asian counterparts in public expenditure on education as a percentage of total public spending.

At all level s of education, the Philippines is only spending 17.2 percent compared to Thailand’s 40 percent and Malaysia’s 28 percent.

Translating this into expenditures per student, he said the same study shows that the Philippine education spending is still way below its Asian competitors.

The country spends 500, 505 and 1,717 dollars (purchasing power parity) for primary education, secondary education and tertiary education, respectively. The Philippines lags behind Malaysia (1,830, 2,920 and 10,792 dollars) and Thailand (3,442, 2,484 and 4,474 PPP dollars).

“The government has been formulating several education policies and programs with the aim of improving the quality of education in the country but it is missing the most important and decisive factor to meet this goal – spending more on education. Unfortunately, government spending on education has been the complete opposite in the past years.”

“Education is an avowed priority of the State but under the present administration, like its predecessors, it does not draw an ounce of sympathy from the authorities.”

The Kabataan Party and the National Union of Students of the Philippines urged lawmakers to maximize the remaining days of the 13th Congress by passing pending bills that seek to institute much needed reforms in the education sector.

Among the bills awaiting approval are the proposed moratorium on tuition and other fee increases and amendments to the Education Act of 1982 which placed private tertiary education in a deregulated environment, Kabataan Party President Raymond Palatino said.

“It’s high time that Congress starts to flex its muscles on unabated increases in tuition and other fees. Government’s tuition deregulation policy has resulted to skyrocketing tuition and miscellaneous fee hikes and caused the ranks of dropouts and out-of-school youth to swell for the past decade. ”

Palatino particularly emphasized the need to resolve the controversy created by the anomalous suspension of CHED Memorandum Order No. 14 or the guidelines for tuition and other fee increase applications and its subsequent amendments last February.

“We call on the lawmakers to investigate CHED and its officials for committing grave abuse of discretion and violating its own standard operating procedures when it hastily suspended the tuition cap amid ongoing tuition consultations.”

CHED Chairman Carlito Puno issued the memorandum suspending the tuition cap last February 20 days before the conclusion of regular tuition hike consultations in private colleges and universities.

Kabataan and NUSP earlier accused CHED of conspiring with the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) to lift the tuition cap to allow private school owners to increase tuition beyond the inflation rate.

Palatino also urged lawmakers to investigate schools that are charging dubious and excessive fees to students.

In 2003 alone, nine schools landed among the top 1,000 corporations in the country with a combined profit of P1.23 billion, he said, citing data from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“How was it possible for big private schools to rake in millions in profit while CHED’s guidelines only provide a 10 percent return of investment for imposed fee increases? School owners have certainly made a lucrative business out of tertiary education and CHED appears to be a willing accomplice.”

Meanwhile, Palatino said the next Congress should conduct a comprehensive review of existing education policies similar to the Education Commission of 1992.

“The recurring problems hounding the education sector should prompt lawmakers and education officials to assess the effectiveness and viability of existing policies and formulate new policies that are responsive to the needs of students, the academe and the local economy in general.”

The Kabataan Partylist today expressed alarm over the sharp decline in the preliminary enrollment figures for the current school year which it said reflected the huge “gap” between the increasing cost of education in the country and the financial capacity of Filipino families to send their children to school.

“When classes open next week, many school-age children and youth won’t be in school,” Kabataan Party president Raymond Palatino said, adding more Filipino families are finding it increasingly difficult to eke out a living.

“We see a decline of 50 percent in enrollment in private schools this year or even more,” he added, saying the enrollment decline is also being experienced in state schools where tuition rate is relatively cheaper.

Palatino said more and more Filipino families could no longer afford even the tuition rate in state universities and colleges (SUCs) which for the past years have also been plagued with huge budget cuts and fee adjustments.

Citing the 2003 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FEIS), he said Filipinos are now allocating less for their household education spending.

Average spending on school fees, books and supplies fell to 4 percent from 4.2 percent during the three-year period as average family income in the country also declined 10 percent between 2000 and 2003. Before the turn of the millennium, the share of educational expenses had been gradually increasing.

“Unfortunately, most Filipino families now have to make a choice between sending their children to school and spending their meager income on food in order to survive. Poverty and government neglect have made education a luxury to many of our countrymen,” Palatino pointed out.

He said the lower household spending on schooling, prompted by increasing prices of basic commodities and services, unabated tuition and school fee hikes and stagnant wage levels, is inflating the number of school dropouts and out of school youth this year.

Palatino said the trend for the past 10 years showed for every 10 pupils who enrolled in grade school only seven graduated.

“Students drop out because of poverty. While basic education is free, many poor families are unable to finance the auxiliary school needs of their children,” he stressed.

He also cited another study from the Department of Education (DepEd) which shows 96.77 percent of elementary school-age children go to school while 66.06 percent of high school-age teenagers go to secondary school.

But for every 100 students who enroll in the first grade, 33 drop out before reaching Grade V and 31 out of 100 high-school freshmen drop out before reaching their senior year.

He said only seven out 100 students who enter Grade I will be able to reach college.

He added many of those who manage to enter college are also doomed to eventually dropout because of the high cost of private tertiary education and limited slots in poorly-funded state schools.

Palatino blamed President Arroyo and her government’s failure to stop unabated tuition and school fee hikes for the high rate of school dropouts in the country.

He said the Kabataan Partylist together with the National Union of Students of the Philippines and other student groups are gearing up for a huge protest on June 4 and 13 to mark the beginning of classes in the basic and tertiary level, respectively.

Related post: School owners also into “dagdag-bawas”

The Kabataan Partylist today criticized government plans to redeploy military troops in Metro Manila schools for the class opening, saying it is intended to target progressive student organizations, student councils and publications that are critical of the Arroyo administration.

“This rehashed plan is no different from the vilification and terror campaign earlier instigated by the military against progressive groups in several baranggays and schools in Metro Manila last elections in the guise of peace caravans and humanitarian missions,” Kabataan Partylist President Raymond Palatino said.

“We have all the reasons to be apprehensive about this plan. Two Kabataan poll watchers were murdered in Camarines Norte last May following the brutal killings of known student leaders Cris Hugo, Farly Alcantara and Reimon Guran in other parts of Bicol. UP student activists Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan have gone missing to this day. All evidences and witnesses point to one common perpetrator – the military.”

“How could students feel secure with soldiers lurking around the campus knowing they could be the next target of abduction or physical elimination?,” he pointed out.

“Whether in full battle gear on in plain clothing, their mere presence sends a chilling effect among students, faculty and school personnel. We fear that this could lead to an escalation of human rights violations against known student activists and even members of student councils and campus publications. This might also have an impact on the psychological well-being of students.”

Palatino said the planned deployment of military troops in schools is dubious and highly irregular.

“Ensuring the students’ safety and peace and order during the opening of classes has always been a policeman’s job. This will only result into the duplication or redundancy of tasks and responsibilities which means additional expenditures on the part of the government.”

“We suspect the deployment is not only meant for the opening of classing but is intended to be permanent in line with the implementation of the draconian Human Security Act otherwise known as the Anti-Terror Law.”

Meanwhile, Palatino said student groups are prepared to oppose the troop deployment through legal and even “extra-legal” means.

He called on the Commission and Human Rights to look into the matter and appealed to lawmakers to conduct an immediate investigation as Congress resumes its session next week.

“Military troops have no place in academic institutions. Schools are not war zones. We will not allow this government to transform our schools into military barracks and make students their target practices.

“If they will continue with the deployment, they will certainly get a dose of what their Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon got when he went to the UP, and even more. Rotten eggs are nothing compared to the hundreds of innocent people they’ve ordered killed for the last five years.”

Legitimate sectoral parties will be the main casualties of vote-padding in this partylist elections.

This was the reaction of Kabataan Partylist President Raymond Palatino over allegations of vote-padding by suspected administration front partylist groups by over 2 million votes, saying that the plan is intended to frustrate the bid of anti-Arroyo sectoral parties to win representation in Congress.

“We noticed that many of the reported cases of vote-padding which occurred mostly in Mindanao involved alleged government-initiated partylists that so far have been lagging behind in the canvassing.”

“But what makes dagdag-bawas activities different in this elections particularly for the partylist race is that the padding of votes for certain partylists are not actually intended to increase the chances of these groups to meet the threshold but merely to bloat the total number of partylist votes,” Palatino pointed out.

“Since the partylist turnout is directly proportional to the threshold, any increase in the total number of partylist votes will add to the total number of votes needed to meet the two-percent threshold,” he explained.

“This will certainly have a bigger impact on the chances of Kabataan and other sectoral parties of elderly, disabled and minorities in meeting the two-percent threshold and clinching a seat in Congress.”

“Meeting the two-percent threshold is already difficult since there are 93 parties contending and voters only get to choose one partylist group. The lack of resources and the low level of partylist awarness also make it harder for most partylist groups to conduct and maintain a national campaign.”

Palatino said these factors explain why only a handful won representation in the last three partylist elections.

In 2004, twenty-four representatives belonging to 16 partylist groups were proclaimed. It was a modest increase from the 12 parties (20 representatives) that were proclaimed in 2001 and 10 groups (14 representatives) who won representation in the first partylist elections in 1998.

“The number of partylist representatives in the last Congress did not even reach half of the 52 reserved seats for partylist representatives.”

He added that the entry of bogus partylist groups that were allegedly sponsored by Malacanang and local politicians only made it more difficult for legitimate political and sectoral parties to win representation.

“Legitimate parties are at a clear disadvantage. These bogus partylist groups enjoy abundant resources, not to mention the backing of the administration’s fraud machinery. The playing field is obviously tilted in favor of those who have connection with the incumbent government.”

“So while Kabataan’s votes increased significantly compared to its performance in 2004, the irregular increase in the threshold could possibly foil its bid to place the first youth sectoral representative in Congress.”

Kabataan, formely known as Anak ng Bayan, was the sole youth partylist that participated in 2004 elections. However, the partylist fell prey to massive vote shaving. A significant number of its votes were anomalously counted in favor of another partylist group. It was just 35,000 votes short of clinching one seat in the Lower House.

Palatino said legitimate partylist groups are “virtually defenseless” against this blatant form of government intrusion and manipulation.

“Instead of empowering the poor, the partylist system is now being used by traditional politicians to extend their sphere of influence.”

“This is not just a “bastardization” of the partylist system. It’s a clear case of injustice and disenfranchisement and an insult to those whose interests and voices remain unrepresented in Congress.”

“In the process, genuine partylist groups are the ones being “marginalized” in a system supposedly created to give representation to marginalized segments of our society.”

Meanwhile, Palatino said they are studying and contemplating on filing disqualification cases against these alleged government-initiated partylist groups.

Regulate tuition hikes, new lawmakers told

“Apparently, “dagdag-bawas” activities don’t just happen in elections. So pervasive is the culture of dagdag-bawas, corruption and greed in this country that even the education sector is not spared from this wicked practice.”

This was the reaction of Kabataan Partylist President Raymond Palatino over reports of new round tuition hikes in private colleges and universities, adding that among private school owners now emerge the new breed of “dagdag-bawas operators.”

Palatino said corrupt politicians and election operators don’t have the monopoly over dagdag-bawas activities as private tertiary schools have long developed and perfected its own “dagdag-bawas” machinery with yearly tuition hikes.

“While candidates accuse each other manipulating election results to clinch victory, private schools owners and administrators are padding tuition and other fees to jack up their profits.”

“Partial reports of tuition hikes involving hundreds of schools all over the country only confirm our long-held fears that the anomalous suspension of the tuition cap early this year will be used by school owners to increase tuition beyond the inflation rate which will lead to bigger tuition and miscellaneous fee hikes this school year,” he pointed out

He accused the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations (COCOPEA) and the Arroyo administration of conniving with each other to suspend the implementation of CHED memorandum order no. 14 and subsequent amendments CMO 42 and CMO 7 which provide for a cap on tuition and other fee increases based on the prevailing national inflation rate.

“This gave private schools bigger room for “tuition padding” (dagdag) which served as a pay off for the much need school owners’ support for administration candidates.”

Palatino said the timing of the tuition cap’s suspension last February 20 is questionable as it came out in the middle of tuition consultations in various private schools and after COCOPEA’s meeting with President Arroyo a week earlier.

“Unfortunately, the reverse result of “tuition padding” is the decrease (bawas) in the number of enrollees and the corresponding upsurge in the number of dropouts and out-of-school youth. With higher tuition rates and more preventive fees being charged both in private institutions, we fear that their numbers will double up this coming semester,” he warned.

Meanwhile, Palatino called on elected district representatives and soon-to-be senators to translate their electoral agenda and promises to practice by making the immediate resolution of the current ‘tuition hike crisis’ their top priority this Congress.

“This will be the best opportunity for them to prove to us that they are really for the youth and they participated in this elections to defend and uphold the interest of young Filipinos, particularly for education.”

“Tuition and other fee increases in these times of economic hardship and poverty are clearly uncalled for. These only make college education more elusive to young Filipinos.”

“We call on our next set of lawmakers to join the students’ clamor for an end to unabated tuition and other fee increases and an immediate investigation on the suspension of the tuition cap,” Palatino concluded.

Party-lists Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan and Suara Bangsamoro today said that accumulated votes padded for Malacanang-backed party-lists in some parts of Mindanao have totaled to at least 58,000.

The party-lists reported that 22,011 votes were padded for ALIF (Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino) from 15 ERs out of 28 municipalities in Zambo del Sur.

ERs from Margosatubig, Pitogo, Vicencio Sagum, Tabina, San Miguel, Simimot, Tambulig, Midsalip, Aurora, Mahaya, Dinas San Pablo, Josefina, Molave and Dumalinao showed discrepancies in the actual votes acquired and the reported number of votes in the canvassing. Votes for ALIF were padded by as high as 2,000 votes in some towns.

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The progressive party-list-GO task force poll watch has uncovered data showing that votes in the ongoing COMELEC count may be padded by anywhere from 2 to 2.7 million votes.

A check of completed city and provincial COCs from the official COMELEC canvass already gives a 73.4% voter turnout in 45 provinces which is 4.42% higher than the Pulse Asia exit poll of 69%. This translates to approximately two million padded votes nationwide and counting.

“What made us suspicious was COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos’ premature announcement, a day after the elections, that voter turnout was 75%. This may have provided political operators with as much as 2.7 million in cheatable, negotiable votes,” said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, analyst of the said task force.

Tapang said 2.7 million votes can affect the ranking of the top 4 leading senatorial seats and can put candidates in the 13-18 slots in the winning 12 and cause those in the lower 6-12 seats to slide out of the winning circle.

“From the current standing in the COMELEC tally, 2.7 million can possibly put out 4 GO candidates (Aquino, Cayetano, Trillanes and Pimintel) and one independent (Honasan) out of the race,” said Tapang.

The six TU candidates that can be catapulted to the winning circle are Zubiri, Recto, Defensor, Pichay, Montano and Sotto.

In the party list race, 2.7 million is equivalent to eight seats up for negotiation. At the same time, it would affect the overall percentages of opposition party list groups by increasing the total base of the party list votes, effectively increasing the 2% vote threshold for each seat in Congress.

Tapang decried the fact that in many cases, COMELEC officials refused to provide opposition poll watchers with copies of election returns even if they had authorization and identification documents for the LP dominant minority party, making it difficult to immediately counter-check the vote padding.

Demand justice for 2 slain poll watchers, decry vote-padding for Malacanang-backed party-lists

Photo taken from http://www.malaya.com.ph

Kabataan Party-list today took to the streets to protest the numerous cases of fraud and election-time terror marking the mid-term elections.

Around 300 youth and students assembled in front of the University of Sto. Tomas in Espana at noon today to commence in a protest march to Mendiola.

“We can only express utter disgust at the Arroyo administration for failing to stem the increasing cases of fraud and violence these elections. This tolerance surmounts to the administration’s refusal to accept Team Arroyo’s dismal performance in the running tallies, and a virtual owning up to the numerous cases of fraud and election-time terror,” said Raymond Palatino, Kabataan National President.

Kabataan Party-list demanded the immediate investigation on the cases of two slain youth poll watchers in Camarines Norte.

Ronaldo Brezuela, 16, and Roberto ‘Jun-jun’ Bagasbas, Jr., 27, were abducted by unformed men on May 15 and found dead of multiple gunshot wounds on May 16 in Brgy. Old Camp Capalonga, Camarines Sur.

The military dismissed their deaths as ‘collateral damage’ in an alleged encounter between the NPA and the AFP. Witnesses, however, dispel this statement saying that Brezuela and Bagasbas were last seen delivering food to other Kabataan volunteers in the Capalonga polling place.

Palatino also cited the emergent trend of massive vote-padding for Malacanang-backed party-lists in provincial and municipal canvassing levels.

He cited cases of vote-padding for Kasangga, party-list of FG Mike Arroyo’s sister, in Caloocan and Isabela among others, and for UNI-MAD, another known Malacanang party-list, in Sibugay, Zamboanga. (Visit http://www.pollwatch2007.wordpress.com.) “This tactic affects not only progressive party-lists but other party-list bets that represent the truly marginalized. It is a butchery of the party-list system.”

Kabataan, together with Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela and Suara also earlier filed a criminal case at the Comelec against election officials involved in electoral fraud, in violation of Comelec Resolution 7859 surmounting to electoral sabotage. Perpetrators found guilty of electoral fraud face lifetime imprisonment.

Kabataan party-list is also set to participate in the rally of concerned citizens against electoral fraud and violence at the PICC later this afternoon. ###

Vote-padding geared to win seats for fake party-lists, increase required 2% threshold

Party-lists Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan and Suara today decried the emerging pattern of massive vote-padding for government-funded party-lists in the canvassing phase.

Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said that while they expected cases of vote-shaving against progressive party-lists, massive vote-padding for government-funded party-lists is an unprecedented ploy to downplay their groups’ imminent victories.

Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza said that the party-lists are set to file additional cases of electoral sabotage against five to six election officers who violated Comelec Resolution 7859. “This should serve as a stern warning against Malacanang operators and cheats,” said Maza.

The party-lists cited cases of vote-padding for Malacanang-backed party-lists in Cauayan, Isabela.

Suara Bangsamoro spokesperson Shamroud Abdulaziz expressed fears that this new tactic may greatly affect their votes in the Mindanao region. He specifically cited cases in Zamboanga Sibugay from Summary of Votes No. 0000160 and COC Nos. 0000443, 0000438, 0000444, 0000434, 0000433, 0000442 and 0000436 where padded votes for COOP-NATCO and UNIMAD totaled to 36,609. (see attached table)

“This is another form of electoral fraud that needs to be exposed for what it’s truly worth. The vote-padding may not necessarily amount to winning seats for government-funded PLS. It, however, cunningly increases the total party-list votes and as a result shoots up the required number of votes to seat one party-list representive,” said Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano.

For his part, Kabataan President Raymond Palatino said, “This tactic affects not only progressive party-lists but other party-list bets that represent the truly marginalized. It is a butchery of the party-list system.”

for daily updates on cases of electoral fraud and violence, go here.

Partylist groups Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Kabataan and Suara Bangsamoro will file charges tomorrow against the chair of the Board of Canvassers in Caloocan City in connection with alleged tampering of votes in the city in favor of Kasangga partylist.

To symbolize the partylist groups’ protest, their pollwatchers in Caloocan City and elsewhere will start wearing black armbands.

Kabataan pollwatcher Daniel Cleofas Jr. said he and other pollwatchers witnessed the tampering of votes in at least eleven precincts in favor of partylist group Kasangga, one of the organizations tagged as Malacañang fronts and whose nominees include Malou Arroyo, a sister of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

According to Cleofas, the vote padding was discovered last night in the following:

* In precincts 222-3A and 222-34A, Kasangga votes were increased from one to 81 and 91, respectively.

* In precincts 222-6A and 222-36A, Kasangga votes were raised from twob to 42 and 62 respectively.

* In precinct 222-3A, the votes for Kasangga were increased from three to 53.

* In precinct 222-5A, the votes for Kasangga were increased from eight to 98.

* In precincts 222-7A, 223-7A, 223-8A, 223-0A and 222-4A, Kasangga got zero, but the BOC padded votes to 50, 72, 98, 70 and 50, respectively.

Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares, Bayan Muna general counsel, said that BOC chair Atty. Juliet Villar is liable for violation of Comelec Resolution 7859, specifically the provision against “electoral sabotage”.

Electoral sabotage is defined as the tampering and changing of votes” and is punishable with life imprisonment.

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo, Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano and Kabataan President Raymond Palatino will go to the Caloocan City canvassing center today to join their pollwatchers.

Mariano said that “Malacañang operators have apparently ordered its dirty tricks operators to work overtime to cheat in the canvassing stage.

Mariano added that vote-padding in the partylist polls will work against all partylist aspirants because it unduly increases the total partylist votes and consequently the minimum number of votes matching the two-percent requirement for any aspirant to win one seat in the House of Representatives.

“This cheating by and for Kasangga cheats the Caloocan people of their choices, works against all partylists, and denies small parties a fair chance of obtaining seats in Congress,” said Mariano.

Kabataan’s Palatino said that Task Force Poll Watch has documented scores of incidents of fraud and violence since Election Day. ###

The two Kabataan Party-list poll watchers slain in Camarines Norte were Ronilo Brezuela, 16 years old, and Roberto ‘Jun-Jun’ Bagsabas Jr., 27 years old and not Ronilo Vallevare, 20 years old, and Jun Bagasbas, 16 years old, as earlier reported.

We apologize for this error. This correction just recently came in from our regional coordinators.

Below is the fact sheet prepared by KARAPATAN – Camarines Norte (karapatancn@yahoo.com).

FACT SHEET 2007-05

I. Tipo ng paglabag: Abduction and Summary Execution
II. Biktima: RONILO BREZUELA, 16 na taong gulang, magsasaka, binata, nakatira sa Sitio Maligaya, Brgy. Alayao, Capalonga, Camarines Norte,kasapi ng Kabataan Party List sa barangay

ROBERTO “junjun” BAGASBAS, JR. 27 taong gulang, binata, mangingisda, nakatira sa Sitio Ulipanan, Brgy. Dahican, Jose Panganiban, Camarines Norte, kasapi ng Kabataan Party List sa barangay

III. Petsa ng Pangyayari: Mayo15, 2007, humigit kumulang ika-7 ng umaga

IV. Lugar na Pinangyarihan: Sitio Santolan, Brgy. Old Camp at Brgy. Mataqui, Capalonga, Camarines Norte

V. Pinaghihinalaang may Kagagawan / Perpetrator: 31st Infantry Batallon Alpha Coy, Tigbinan Base, Labo, Camarines Norte

VI. Posibleng Motibo: Pinaghinalaang kasapi ng NPA

VII. Buod ng Pangyayari: Mayo 14, 2007, nagpaalam si Ronilo sa kanyang ina na pupuntang pistahan sa Brgy. Old Camp at di rin agad makakuwi dahil sa mga kaibigan makikitulog.

Katapusan ng Abril, 2007, nagpaalam si Junjun sa kanyang ama na pupuntang Manila upang doon magtrabaho.

Ayon sa ilang tagabaryo huli nilang nakita si Ronilo kasama si Junjun nong Mayo 15 humigit kumulang ikapito ng umaga.

Mayo 16, 2006, humigit kumulang ika-2 ng hapon sa Brgy. Mataqui ( 3 kilometro mula sa Poblacion Capalonga) ayon sa CNPO (Camarines Norte People’s Organization) sa baryo nakausap nila ang taong inutusan ng mga sundalo na ibaba sa baryo ang dalawang bangkay. Isinakay niya ito sa paragos (sasakyan ng kopra, niyog at palay na hihihila ng kalabaw) pababa sa baryo at siya na rin ang pinasundo sa kabayanan upang kumuha ng masasakayan ng bangkay.

Gabi ng May 16, 2006, binabasan ng kura paroko ng Capalonga na si Fr. Abel ang labi ng dalawang bangkay. Ayon sa kanya, sira ang labi, may hiwa sa baba, butas ang kaliwang dibdib na ayon umano sa PNP ay sinaksak at may katabing tama ng bala ng baril ang isang labi na may balbas.

Mayo 17, 2007 ng umaga, nakatanggap si Roberto Bagasbas Sr. (ama ni junjun) ng balita na may patay sa plaza ng Capalonga na kamukhang kamukha ni junjun. Nang umaga ding yaon ay nagmamadali siyang pumunta sa plaza ng Capalonga. Doo’y nakita niya ang dalawang kahon na yari sa plywood na siyang pinaglalagyan ng katawan ng dalawang kabataan. Sinilip ng amang si roberto ang kahon sa pamamagitan ng pagtanggal sa tatlong pako. Doo’y namukhaan niya ang kanyang anak na si junjun sa kabila ng inalisan ng balat ang parte ng baba nito,butas ng isang dibdib, nakagapos ang paa at ang kamay ay nakagapos din ng lubid sa likod. Naamoy na rin niya ang mabahong singaw ng bangkay. Nagpaalam siya sa PNP ng Capalonga, bandang ika-12 ng hapon, matapos dumaan sa ilang proseso, na iuuwi niya sa kanilang tahanan ang labi ng anak upang dooy paglamayan.

Pina embalsamo niya ang labi sa Funeraria Adea at ayon sa emblasamador ay sinadista umano si Junjun dahil sa dami maraming bakas ng pagpapahirap dito. Binalot ang labi ni junjun sa plastic bago inilagay sa kabaong upang di umalingasaw ang amoy nito.

May 19, 2007, nang malaman ni Anita Brezuela(nanay ni Ronilo) mula sa ilang tagabaryo na patay na ang kanyang anak at ito’y nakalibing.

May 19, 2007 ng umaga inilibing si Roberto Bagasbas Jr sa sementeryo ng Brgy. Dahican.

Una dito, Mayo 16, 2007 ng tanghali sa programa ng Bombo Radio Daet, binalita na ayon sa Phil Army, nagkaroon umano ng engkwentro sa pagitan ng NPA at Phil Army sa Capalonga at dalawang NPA ang napatay.

Inihanda ni:

MARICEL RAFER
Provincial Coordinator
May 20, 2007