Hold your horses, Ronald Cardema. You can’t just strip students of their government scholarships just like that.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo today dismissed the idea that the government should remove the scholarship of students who join anti-government protests.
Panelo was reacting to the suggestion from National Youth Commission chairperson Cardema that President Rodrigo Duterte should issue an executive order to remove the scholarships of students who join anti-government rallies.
He said those whose scholarships should be removed include members of the Communist Party of the Philippines, its armed wing the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front, a coalition of various revolutionary organizations.
In a press conference, Panelo said that joining protests was a student’s right. “If they are joining rallies, that’s a right. That’s freedom of expression. That’s freedom of assembly. Unless you can show concrete evidence that they are really part of those who are against this government we can’t do it (remove their scholarships).”
However, those who “incite sedition” are a different story, he said. Panelo said: “First of all, you will be charged, you will be jailed, so how will you attend your classes?”
Yet Panelo said membership in an activist group such as Akbayan or Kabataan won’t be enough reason for a student to lose his scholarship.
He said: “Mere membership alone will not suffice. You have to show us evidence that, one, you did join because you want to fight the government. But if you joined for whatever reason, like for fraternities, in UP (University of the Philippines), people join it because it’s a status symbol.”
Panelo said there has to be evidence that a student is part of a group that wants to oust the government. “We are a government of laws, not of speculations … We need evidence that they are part of a group that is against the government.”
Cardema has been criticized by a number of people for making such a suggestion. Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero called Cardema “sycophantic and obsequious” while Akbayan party-list said that civic engagement is “one’s right and duty.”
Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra also said the suggestion is against the students’ right to freedom of speech and expression.
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