The banner headline of the Philippine Daily Inquirer today caught me off-guard. “GMA: No to Tuition Hike.” What a spin that was!

It was simply that, a press gimmick. What makes her statement entirely preposterous is that in the first place, it is her administration’s long standing policy to direct state colleges and universities (SUC’s) to tighten their belts and increase fees and other self-generating income procedures (Long Term Higher Education Development Plan 2010). It was also her administration’s directive policy to lift the tuition increase cap on private educational institutions, hence opening the floodgates of incessant increases in tuition across the country. It’s because of her why tuition and other fees have been increasing rampantly the past years.

And what purpose will this statement serve? It doesn’t make sense. Private and state universities have already increased tuition months and years ago. Various fee increases in state colleges and universities have already been implemented under her administration. Students have already been forced to pay their fees. Unless the President’s directive is retroactive, which it is apparently not, it’s an empty gimmick. Unless she orders for a tuition rollback, the directive is useless.

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Tags: education, Gloria Arroyo, media, political dissent, propaganda, tuition increase, youth sector