Students hold nationwide walkout vs Rody gov’t

Militant students from various higher education institutions across the country yesterday staged a walkout to protest some of the policies of the Duterte administration.

In Metro Manila, hundreds of students from the University of the Philippines (UP), Polytechnic University of the Philippines, University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University and University of the East staged a walkout from their classes before joining the protest caravan to Mendiola.

Similar activities were reported in different education institutions in other parts of the country, including in UP campuses in Los Baños, Iloilo and Mindanao.

Among the issues that the students criticized include attacks on press freedom, the implementation of the tax reform law, the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, the alleged extrajudicial killings in connection with the war on drugs and the jeepney modernization program.

KASAMA sa UP, the alliance of student councils in UP, described Duterte as anti-people and king of fake news because of his policies and pronouncements. The UP Diliman administration expressed support for the walkout, with chancellor Michael Tan urging teachers to excuse students who will participate in various activities that will be held over the weekend in time with the commemoration of the 1986 People Power Revolution.