Speak out: Street U launching photo

Sun.Star Daily Publication Date: [November 14, 2006]

STREET University (Steet U) would like to make a clarification regarding a photo that came out in Sun.Star Cebu’s Nov. 10 issue.

The paper published the photo on the launching of Street U and placed it beside a picture of students from a Mandaue High School cleaning the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC). The caption for the photos had the title, “Student participation.”

The location of the photo unintentionally gives the wrong impression that Street U is giving its uncritical support for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) 12th Leaders’ Summit.

At a glance, the layout and caption could mislead the reader into assuming that Street U is part of the government’s preparation and mobilization of resources for the summit. Such, however, is not the case.

In almost all of the Arroyo administration’s costly propaganda efforts for the said summit, there is emphasis on its being a “cure-all” or panacea for each and every problem that now affects the country, thus justifying the staggering expense for its preparations.

However, the more important question about its agenda and how it will address the issues faced by Asean constituents, particularly the youth, have been sidelined. This is exactly what Street U aims to address.

In particular, Street U is raising the concern over the present government’s lavish spending for a four-day event even as the budget for social services like education remains meager.

Cebu, alone, has been spending about P650 million for the CICC whereas this could have been used to finance the need of the education sector for 74,115 classrooms. Moreover, the overall budget for the Asean, which is P2.5 billion, could already enroll 166,667 college students for the second semester.

By Karlo Mikhail Mongaya
University of the Philippines