"Sobra na! Tama na! Gloria Resign!"
"Pera sa edukasyon, hindi sa korupsyon."

These are the screaming sentiments of the incessant protest actions after star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. revealed the dirty and filthy transaction behind the National Broadband Network deal with China´s Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment (ZTE) Corporation.

In opposition to the low budget allotted to education are the large quantities of kick-backs gained by greedy politicians in the NBN-ZTE corp. scandal. The deal was a government project worth $329 million that allegedly included $130 million of government officials´ kick-back and a bribe offer of P200 million pesos.

Star witness Jun Lozada expressed that it is customary for government projects to be overpriced by 20 percent, with the change going into the pockets of the government officials.

The NBN-ZTE deal is the biggest overpriced project, among others: the overpriced $465.5 million worth Cyber Education Project, the $14 million worth IMPSA (Industrias Metalurgicas Pescarmona Sociedad Anonima) deal, Call Centers in State Universities with P575 million missing in funds, the overpriced P536 million worth Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, the P1.4 billion worth COMELEC (Commission on Election) counting machines, and the P728 million worth Fertilizer Fund used as election campaign funds in 2004.

These are no mere issues of corruption. These caused damage to education as a social institution. Educational institutions are hungry of big budget allocation from the government.

December from two years ago was a crucial month for the University of the Philippines (UP). The UP administration approved the 300% tuition and other fee increases for the freshmen of batch 2007. Students protested against it, but there was no compromise. Despite the students´ resistance, the tuition increase was implemented.

In an Alternative Classroom Learning Experience held last January, Alvin Peters of the National Union of Students of the Philippines spoke of the sudden increase on the Tuition and Other Fees of the University of the Philippines (UP). He expressed that UP is the "Guinea Pig" for state colleges and universities (SCUs). The tuition increase in the University of the Philippines has become the basis for the increase in tuition of other state universities.

In the face of the tuition and other fees increases, the government is boasting the high allocation of the 2008 budget for the education sector, especially for the University of the Philippines.

This year, the education sector will receive the highest, amounting to P158.6 billion. Moreover, the government designated P25.84 billion for the health sector, P29.16 billion for agriculture, and P94.72 billion for infrastructures.

Accordingly, in an interview with the Philippine Collegian, Alvin Peters of the National Union of Students of the Philippines said that "No matter how many times Gloria Arroyo may boast of an increase in the social services budget, any significant increase in the real value remains to be seen. Maaaring nominally ay lumalaki nga ang budget, pero malayo ito sa talagang kailangang halaga."

The billions of pesos going into the pockets of the Arroyo´s and their alliances may sustain the minimum cost of the daily living of 7.5 million families. The billions of pesos they deal out may supply the needs of the state universities which tuition and other fees should be subsidized by the government.

In response, the UP administration is making its own efforts to generate funds for it believes that the designated fund for the university is insufficient. Also, it seeks to raise funds from the science and technology parks in UP.

But according to Student Regent Terry Ridon, "For schools to generate income on its own does not exactly answer the problem of substandard instruction. It is always sufficient state subsidy that will answer the problem. "

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