“The fight is definitely on against budget cuts in social services. Expect larger protests, boycotts and strikes in the weeks to come. With the Congress reacting the way they did, we have no choice but to take our demands to the streets.”, Merced said. ###

Youth and students led by the League of Filipino Students, ANAKBAYAN, Student Christian Movement of the Philippines, KARATULA, College Editors Guild of the Philippines, and the National Union of Students of the Philippines joined migrants, women, urban poor and health workers, and marched to the House of Representatives today to protest Benigno Aquino III’s proposed 2012 National Budget as part of the National Day of Action against Budget Cuts on Education and Social services.

“If the Aquino government and its cohorts push for Cha-Cha, it can expect thousands of youth and Filipinos to flood the streets in protest. We refuse to be merely employees and consumers in our own country. The Filipino people know better and have protested and stopped any move to approve 100% foreign ownership ever since. No amount of sugar-coated propaganda can lead us to thinking that this cha-cha is different from the rest!”

Simula’t sapul, salungat ang interes ni Dante Guevarra sa interes ng mag-aaral ng PUP. Aniya, kung hindi kayang magbayad ng mga estudyante ng matrikula sa PUP, sa ibang pamantasan sila mag-aral.

They were like rabid dogs hitting many of our fellow students in the face, abdomen, some even pinning them to the ground like common criminals. Those who have fallen were stepped on by the perpetrators like they were putting off cigarette butts.

In a time of great deceit, we choose to walkout for honor. In a time of lavish spending, we choose to walkout for austerity. In a time of apathy, we choose to walkout for social significance. In a time when the state’s abandonment of the people’s welfare is at its peak, the youth chooses to stand steadfast against this administration’s continuous neglect.