Groups mark 3rd year of Kristel Tejada's death, protest new round of tuition hikes

Various youth groups organized student walkouts on Friday to protest the impending increases in tuition other school feesin nearly 400 colleges and universities.

“The Filipino youth is grieving. When UP Manila student Kristel Tejada took her life back in 2013, the Aquino administration shrugged its shoulders and dismissed her death as an ‘isolated case.’ Yet after Kristel, four more deaths ensued,” said Sarah Elago, president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines and Kabataan Partylist first nominee.

"These are not isolated cases – these are clear manifestations of the growing desperation of the Filipino youth brought about by the soaring cost of education in the country," she added.

The group also called for justice for Rosanna Sanfuego of Cagayan, Jhoemary Azaula of Quezon, Nilna Habibun of Zamboanga Sibugay, and Jessiven Lagatic of Bicol. It said the students committed suicide also because they didn't have enough for their tuition.

“Education has become so expensive under Aquino that many students become dropouts or are pushed to desperation like Kristel Tejada. Literal na nakakamatay ang sistema ng edukasyon sa ilalim ni Aquino,” Anakbayan National Chair Vencer Crisostomo said in a separate statement.

Student leaders from the Polytechnic University (PUP) also joined the protest.

"We find Aquino's administration guilty for the crime of conspirating with university administrators to solidify commercialization. The blood of Tejada and others like her is on the hands of Aquino," said PUP College of Education Student Council President Rejhon Modesto.

UP Manila student Tejada took her life after her family failed to come up with the needed amount to pay for her tuition in 2013.

In a news briefing shortly after Tejada's death, Malacañang said that her suicide was an “unfortunate incident.

Presidential spokesman Secretary Edwin Lacierda said the administration has always strived to provide increased budgets to state universities and colleges as well as scholarships and grants that cash-strapped students can avail of.

“Last year (2012) tinaasan ang budget ng SUC kaya wala kang nakikitang rally sa kalye because ang DBM (Department of Budget and Management), ang gobyerno, tinaasan ang budget ng mga state universities and colleges especially also UP,” Lacierda said, before enumerating existing programs that provide assistance to poor but deserving students.

“We have several scholarships from CHED (The Commission on Higher Education). For instance, we’ve got scholarships for bright Filipino students whose general weighted average is 90 percent and above. The financial benefit is P30,000 per annum. We’ve got grants-in-aid for bright Filipino students whose general average is 85 to 89 percent scholars and the grant is 15,000 per annum,” he said. -Aya Tantiangco/NB, GMA News