MANILA – The head of the National Youth Commission (NYC) urged President Rodrigo Duterte to revoke the scholarships of students who were joining rallies and protest actions.
NYC head Ronald Cardema said the President must issue an executive order to remove the scholarships of the “rebellious and anti-government” students, especially those allied with leftist groups.
“Nananawagan po ako kay Pangulong Duterte bilang head of our government to remove the government scholarships of all rebellious, anti-government scholars,” Cardema said.
He added: “Nilalabanan niyo ang ating mga pulis, ang ating mga sundalo and nilalabanan niyo at gusto niyong ipabagsak ang ating gobyerno at kayo ay government scholars,” he added.
Cardema also dismissed student activists’ claim that the law prohibits denying students’ admission to the state-run University of the Philippines on the basis of political affiliation.
“Walang batas batas or charter charter para sa mga gustong magpabagsak ng gobyerno,” he said.
Cardema’s statement did not sit well with some student activist organizations with the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) calling for his resignation from his post.
“They are people’s money. So students are not indebted to the corrupt tyrant in Malacañang,” said NUSP secretary-general Raoul Manuel. “We owe our education to the Filipino people, to whom the youth offers its efforts as we push for the rights and welfare of the oppressed millions.”
Manuel added: “Cardema is copying his boss Duterte and acting like a tyrant so insecure that he attacks our right to express as enshrined in the Constitution.”
He also said that aside from Cardema’s latest remark, other “blunders” that are “sufficient basis for his resignation” include his alleged endorsement of the administration’s senatorial bets, communist-tagging against students, and his silence on rising school fees and moves to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
Cardema was a leader of Duterte Youth, a group that made headlines in 2017 for confronting OPM icon Jim Paredes, a staunch critic of the President, during the anniversary celebration of the 1986 People Power Revolution in EDSA.
Cardema was appointed by Duterte as head of the NYC in August 2018, replacing singer Ice Seguerra, who tendered her resignation from the post due to “personal reasons.”/PN
