Government should adopt '6%-of-GNP to education' standard in PH - UP protesters

The Philippines' national university begins its three-day strike today to protest the impending decrease in its 2012 budget with a Unity Walk along the UP Academic Oval.

More than 2,000 university officials, faculty members, employees and students of the University of the Philippines - Diliman marched along the 2.2-kilometer oval to demonstrate their unity against the decrease in the budget of UP and other state universities and colleges (SUCs) for next year.

UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA), one of the participants in the university-wide strike, appeals to the government to increase the UP budget and invest more in education.

"We ask this government to heed the call of the youth for a greater investment in education via a higher budgetary allocation to its national university and the enactment of a law that will automatically appropriate at least 6% of our Gross National Product to the whole education sector," ALYANSA Vice Chairperson for Publicity and Publications MJ Aragones said.

According to Aragones, the government via the Department of Budget and Management only approved P5.54-billion out of the P17.07-billion budget proposal of the UP administration for 2012. With this measly figure, UP’s budget will be decreased by 3.6% from its 2011 budget.
"Prioritization of education should never discriminate tertiary education. As stipulated in the Constitution, the State must 'protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels,' and this includes quality education in our SUCs," Aragones said.

In addition, Aragones said that even an increase in the budget for basic education does not conceal the fact that education ranks low in the government's list of priorities. According to Aragones, the 2012 education budget in toto only amounts to 2.5% of the country's 2010 GNP, which is a far cry from the '6%-of-GNP to education' UNESCO standard accepted by over one hundred countries.

"If the President is serious in bringing this neglected generation out of the wedlock of injustice and underdevelopment, the government should adopt the '6%-of-GNP to education' standard to our country," Aragones said.

"Thirty-nine years after dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law, the Filipino youth are still fighting in the streets because they have yet to attain genuine freedom, which can only be achieved through quality, relevant and accessible education. We hope the government, especially President Aquino, realize our plight," Aragones concluded. ALYANSA - UP Diliman

Outstanding MPA Recognized by MSN

The 2011 MPA Awards and Recognition event was held last night (August 31, 2011) at the Bahay ng Alumni, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. This event was organized by the Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Support Network [MSN] in cooperation with the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, USAID- Philippine Environmental Governance Project (ECOGOV), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (DENR-PAWB), the Department of Agriculture - Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UPMSI), Marine Environment and Resources Foundation (MERF), Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP): World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International-Philippines, together with the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research & Development (DOST-PCAMRD), Pacific Rim Innovation and Management Exponents (PRIMEX) and the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.

The MPA Support Network is a multi-sectoral group of organizations representing academic institutions, national government agencies, non-governmental organizations and people’s organizations. Since 2007, MSN has organized this biennial event dubbed as, the “Para el MAR” or MPA Awards and Recognition event. The Para el MAR helps promotes MPA good practices through an incentive system where the MPAs with exemplary management practices are being recognized and their good practices are used as model for other MPAs to follow.


For the 3rd Para el MAR, winners were chosen from 117 nominations representing 17 provinces all over the country. Out of these, 14 finalists stood out based on their level of management effectiveness, scores and MPA size. Field evaluation was conducted by MSN members and partners to determine the top three winners. The general criteria used for the final evaluation were: (1) Management effectiveness, (2) bio-physical and ecological impacts, (3) social and economic benefits of the MPA.


A special award was given to Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park for being a UNESCO heritage park and protecting more than 90,000 hectares of biologically diverse marine area. Unlike the previous Para el MAR in 2007 and 2009, top 4 MPAs were awarded last night. Two MPAs shared the third prize, these are, Twin Rocks Fish Sanctuary in Mabini, Batangas and Tambunan Marine Protected Area, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur; the 2nd prize went to Bangrin Mangrove Marine Protected Area, Bani, Pangasinan and the top prize was awarded to the most outstanding MPA of 2011, Bangaan Marine Sanctuary, Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay. The winners received cash prizes from sponsors (1st prize, FPE: 100,000; 2nd prize, DOST-PCAMRD: 50,000; 3rd prize, DA-BFAR: 35,000 each). The aim of this cash incentive is to further support their MPA management activities and projects.

The event was attended by directors of DENR-PAWB, DOST-PCAMRD, DA-BFAR, representatives of the sponsoring organizations, mayors of the MPA finalists, other Local government units, press people, MSN partners and other guests. The special guest speaker was Congressman Erin Tañada who was represented by his chief of staff, Ms. Jessica Cantos. The event was enlivened by theater actors, Ms. Bibeth Orteza and Mr. Joel Saracho as the program hosts. The awards night ended with a speech by Dir. Cesario Pagdilao of DOST-PCAMRD and by Dr. Perry Aliño, the MSN Coordinator. Richard N. Muallil, Marine Science Institute, UP Diliman