March 2008

February 2008

Richelle is a first year student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. She is among the first batch of students affected by the approved 300% tuition and other fee increases. Her first semester alone cost her family P17,000 for 15 units.

She was unable to apply for the university's Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), an incentive-granting scheme based on one's family income and expenditures, because her admission letter arrived late at her home in Palawan. Her parents, both already retired, were unable to procure income tax returns as required by the STFAP. To pay the P1,000 per unit rate, her parents resorted to borrowing from relatives and from 5-6 lenders - illegal loaners who demand P600 payment for every P500 borrowed - in their neighborhood.

And Richelle's plight is echoed by other freshmen.