UP, You Break My Heart

I was using Twitter last night when I read a tweet about a UP Manila freshman committing suicide. A student killing herself is not entirely new to me. Who could forget about the freshie in Kalayaan dormitory (UP Diliman) who supposedly locked herself inside her cabinet during sembreak just because she failed Math 17 on her first try? She now, as rumored, continues to haunt the halls of the said dormitory. She took her life because of grades. But to kill oneself because of the inability to pay tuition fee? At a supposedly public university, a national one at that?

I read the news about the incident (http://ph.news.yahoo.com/up-manila-student-takes-own-life-070555702.html) and I don't exactly know how to feel. I am, most certainly, saddened by the waste of life, over helpless circumstances that made this student decide to kill herself. I am angered that my university has become a part of this waste. This made me, finally, ask myself if University of the Philippines is becoming a university for the middle and upper class only.

"[S]tudents are advised to file LOA if they failed to meet the deadline of tuition payment," UP Manila Prof. Carl Marc Ramota said via Facebook.

What? When? Where? Why?? I have never known that such a harsh policy was being implemented at our university. True, that I come from UP Diliman, but to be informed that there is such evil, such monstrosity of a rule existing within the UP system, regardless of what campus, is truly disheartening and disappointing. I am fully aware that UP is fighting a budget cut. But have we really come to this? And we were led to believe that we are all scholars of the country.

I scrolled down to the comments section of the article and came to this:
"Tax money natin ang budget ng U.P., may mga subsidy pa, grants, etc. Maraming pera. "

Oh how the commentor be more wrong. I remember encountering this line of thought when I was still in the university, "Hindi lang naman taxpayers ang nagpapaaral samin e. Parents namin." Tuition fee in UP has increased a full 300% since 2007. Students in Bracket A are paying P1,500/unit and students in bracket B, P1,000/unit. Our tuition fee is relatively cheaper compared to other universities. But they are not low enough to merely dismiss it as cheap. My payment every semester sums up to nearly P30,000 while my sister's, who is studying at University of Sto. Tomas, amounts to P40,000++. The fee isn't the only financial burden every student has to consider. Costs of books and readings, trips, food allowance, dorm payments (which has a surcharge of 5% when delayed), etc. etc. It is NOT cheap to study. And it is not true that the Filipino citizens are the only ones paying for our studies, for our parents and guardians sweat a lot, too, for us to be able to continue our studies.

And the second half of his comment went like this:
 "Bakit ganito ang pamamalakad nila? Matinding paniningil sa mga students. Palitan ang mga opisyales, they have defeated the noble purpose of the UP charter."

This made me remember my life in UP. Admittedly, I was not a student who had a hard time settling my fees and who worried about my allowance. My circle of friends were also not like that. We could afford to go out, have fun, and spend what is left of our allowances. I know a lot of well - off students, students who own cars, who have drivers, daughters and sons of infamous personalities. And I know very few people who are really just struggling to stay at the university. UP is a small society of different classes. And to be honest, I know more of those who are well- off than those who are not, but never have I thought that my university has been slowly discarding students who really study at the national university because it's the only school they can afford. This issue forced to me take a step back of my personal comfort zone. Whatever happened to "Ang UP ay para sa mga mahihirap?"

I could say that the freshwoman who died was weak, for she had a lot of choices and she could have chosen to fight and not surrender, but who am I to judge her, one who has not been forced into that kind of situation? Would I be as strong as I believe I would be, when all I wanted was to study and graduate and help pull my family out of that murky place that is poverty, only to find out that I couldn't? I don't want to judge, for every person has her own way of handling obstacles in life. And I know people who have been into more intense problems than this student but have decided to be strong. But who am I to tell what's worse and what's not?


Oh UP, how you break my heart. </3


Links for related articles:
http://www.manilachannel.com/2013/03/15/unpaid-tuition-pushed-up-manila-student-to-commit-suicide/
http://www.thepoc.net/breaking-news/breaking-stories/18043-up-manila-freshman-commits-suicide-over-tuition-woes.html