“Walk-outs for truth” to be held as school opens
Enrollment period ushers revival of campus protests for anti-Arroyo youth

May 20, 2008

A different kind of enrollment greeted the students of Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) today as aside from their usual subjects, members of League of Filipino Students (LFS) and Youth for Accountability and Truth Now (Youth Act Now) invited the students to sign-up in “protest classes” under “Kolehiyo ng Katotohanan, Katarungan at Pagbabago.”

They offered “alternative” subjects such as “Totoology”, “Tongpats 101″, “Protest Education (PE)”, to those who want to make their schooldays “socially and politically relevant.” Posters and sign-up sheets bore humorous quotes such as “iskul na walang bubukol”, “gusto kong ma-kick out… si GMA”, “pwede ang noisy sa klaseng ito”, “sa taas ng matrikula, mag-eenroll sa protesta”.

According to Vencer Crisostomo, LFS National Chairperson, the enrollment protests will be carried on nationwide in most universities, colleges and even high schools.

“We are not wasting time. This is in preparation for big student protests expected immediately as classes open on June 10,” he said.

Crisostomo also said that they will invite the ZTE witnesses, including Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr., to be “professors” for their enrollment campaign.

He explained that many students and parents are inclined to join protests as, due to the worsening economic crisis, most now “understand concretely the consequences of letting a corrupt and anti-people president stay in power longer.”

“We are looking forward to a new wave of mass protests as class starts. More than ever, most now feel that working for Arroyo’s ouster is their natural course of action due to the economic crisis,” he said.

The LFS and Youth Act Now led the series of youth protests during the first quarter of this year as the ZTE scandal hit high gear. Thousands of youth participated in the protests which they now expect to “revive and intensify” as classes resume. #