President unlikely to void scholarships of student rallyists

Malacañang said yesterday that President Duterte is unlikely to issue an executive order removing the government scholarship of students joining antigovernment protests as suggested by National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Cardema.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Duterte is unlikely to support the suggestion of the NYC chairperson who is also the national chairman of the Duterte Youth movement.

According to Panelo, the government cannot just remove the government scholarship of a student just because he is suspected to be anti-government.

“Kung ire-remove mo lang nga on the basis of suspicion, I don’t think the President will sign an executive order. Kailangan merong grounds – legal grounds, reasonable grounds,” he said.

“We are a government of laws, not of speculations... Kailangan meron tayong ebidensya na mga parte nga sila ng mga grupo na laban sa gobyerno,” he added.

The Palace official also said that joining rallies is a right guaranteed by the Constitution.

“Kung sila ay sumasama lang sa mga rally, that’s their right – that’s freedom of expression and freedom of assembly,” Panelo said. “We cannot just dismiss or remove the scholarship from them just because we are suspecting them. Hindi tayo reckless,” he added.

Panelo pointed out that Duterte encourages the people to air their grievances against the government. “Si Presidente nga nage-encourage na magmartsa kayo sa kalsada if you have grievances to the government. That’s a constitutional right,” he said.