Bitter death for bitter budget

Another great alarm again had woke up the seemingly somnambulistic government with regards to the controversial budget given that Kristel Tejada, a 16 year-old UP freshman student committed suicide for being force to take a leave of absence in her studies because her parents failed to pay their loan and her tuition fees.

Tejada is a behavioral science student of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila. She died by taking liquid silver cleanser on March 5, 2013 at Tondo, Manila. She is just one of those who dreamed to be successful someday and her parents were just one of those who also believed that the college education of their daughter could lift them together from wallowing in the quagmire of poverty. With these thoughts of change for their lives, a life has been wasted; a life that could never be back again.

 The death of Tejada must serve as call for everybody and not only for the government to take it as a lesson in order to come up with a rethought life with its reviewed priorities and services. Let us not resort directly to any suicide acts. Everybody must think that life is just given to us and we do not have the right to take it away from us. Her death may not be a waste if the government would take it the way that the poor but privileged students took the challenge of the lesson to do more of their part, to ensure a bright future and to review its priorities. They must prioritize their lives on the first place. After all, everybody must think that killing ourselves is killing our dreams. Tejada is in the tertiary level of dreaming an abundant life. She should have thought of her chance of that and her chance of passing in a state university admission.

On the other hand, the government, who is leading us now, must have also consider Tejada’s death to review its priorities on basic services, the education as such and for the State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) to revisit their policies.

As an ordinary individual, perhaps, we would crucify everyone who matters of the death of Tejada. There are maybe flaws in the socialized tuition fee system of UP that is why they are now on the process examining it. The death of Tejada has just given an opportunity for university administrators to revisit what have been the implementing guidelines that are not applicable in today’s status quo.

Based on the Congressional Planning and Budget Research Department, the share of the SUCs now in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country now declined from 0.41 percent in 1991 to 0.29 percent this year. The Philippines has just represented 2 percent of its GDP which was far below from the 6 percent requirement of the United Nations. As for the need of every student now, the state must initiate a move for more innovative laws. These must be the laws that are for education and for the benefit of the students.

The death of Kristel Tejada must not be taken for granted. It must galvanize everybody that hopefully at last, there will be a constitutional right for better education. Her bitter death has just prompt the authority for a better budget.