#bracketakana

"#BracketAKaNa: The UP Diliman 500-peso Challenge" features some of the best art, book and food places in the University of the Philippines-Diliman under P500. | A collaborative video production with Krixia Subingsubing, originally submitted as requirement in the Journalism 195 class of Prof. Khrysta Rara

Yes, UP is an asset of the government, hence being called the state university. Since it is an asset of the government, then there is to be a budget alloted to the university. Annually, UP asks for 17-18 billion for, but the national government only gives about half (2013) but normally it gets a mere 5-6 billion. Recently, Senator Pia Cayetano, a member of the Board of Regents of the university, slammed congress for alloting zero capital outlay for UP (but still we got a billion because of her ranting)So! Where do we get the PhP when government only gives less than half? Tuition! So in the 80's the socialized tuition was born, and simultaneously, the tuition increased, though indirectly. For every reform they do to this socialized tuition scheme, tuition increases, but minimum wage never catched up, so ayan. And after the recent reform, the default bracket/automatic bracket for UP students not applying for socialized tuition is 1,500 per unit. Last year before the reform the default was 1,000 per unit. So if you can't pay the full tuition costs, it's socialized tuition for you.At first glance, "Wow! Social justice, the rich subsidizing the poor" "It is truly right and just." But wait, given that you are in UP, the government should and must subsidize you, because everyone has a right to accessible education at all levels - Article XIV, Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution states, "The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all." And that basic social services offered by the government (health, education, etc.) should be subsidized for making it accessible to the masa. That's why public elementary and secondary schools are free, government hospitals like PGH are low cost compared to St. Lukes, Makati Med, etc., so the mere concept of paying the full price in a government run institution is very much a no-no-no.The point is, the whole socialized tuition looks so fair but it is flawed in so many levels that is it doesn't even deserve the word fair. The process and structure itself is unfair, from the questionnaire to the basis of bracketing (the controversial MORES 1sec). For example, your full-paying taxpayer family has an annual income of 1 million, but more than 60% of your family's income goes to debt and other utangs, walang pake ang STS, basta magbayad ka ng bracket A or 1,500 per unit. UP's STS focuses on gross income rather than net income (true story). If you have 3 cellphones in your household, you are assigned to bracket B (1,000 per unit) or A. Even if uling yung panluto niyo, basta may TV, brakcet B ka na. Even if you explain that your mother or father has a sickness that sucks your family's income, basta may aircon bracket B or A ka na. It sounds ridiculous, but it IS true.Did you know that for every reform of UP's socialized tuition, along with the indirect increase in tuition, there are less students bracketed under E, the lowest bracket, now only less than 1% (really) of the 55,000 UP students from Baguio to Mindanao. So the present system is really flawed and unfair to the extent that it deprives the poor of their access to UP education, increasing the number of bracket A students even if their real bracket is lower. Socialized tuition is just a band-aid solution to compensate for the budget deficit.It looks like UP students are becoming as sosyal and richkids as those from private schools, because the poor cannot pay 20,000 to 38,000 twice a year, plus their baon which let's say 1k a week at maximum for the lower class and minimum for the middle class, 4k a month, 16k from August to December, then another 16k from January to May. It sounds little to most upper middle class families of society, but it means a lot for those living in tenant farms, kangkungan, barrios, relocated communities, etc. to which most Filipinos are giving a blind eye about. So now that the poor cannot enroll in UP because of the awful tuition, the slots are filled in by the Filipino middle class and upper class. That's why you can see more cars parked in front of Palma Hall in Diliman, etc. Hindi kasalanan ng mga well-off na nasa state university sila. They are not "making tipid" because of the seemingly cheap tuition for them, they are here because they want to, they are entitled to, and they deserve to.Same goes to the poor. They want to go to UP, they deserve to go to UP because they are entitled to UP.As part of a family of full-paying taxpayers, paying the full tuition of UP, I personally resent the unfair present system that lets those who have iPads, tablets, and etc... come in UP but barring those who can't because they can't pay the tuition because the system wouldn't let them. Socialized tuition is not the solution. It is just plain discrimination. Increasing the budget not only to UP but to all state universities and colleges (SUCs) is the only solution so that every Juan has the access to quality education. And another, the Philippines does not comply with international standards of alloting 6% of the country's GDP to education, rather, a mere 2.7% is sliced for education, that's why merong #BracketAKaNa, that's why may #JunkSTS. 

May plastic cover ang blue book?  #BracketAKaNa

Stop the reforms. Scrap STS. Flat rate tuition.

Fuck this system. Public school daw ang UP? Kagaguhan.