kill joy or kill Juan?

18 lanterns accompanied by gimmicks plus fireworks display = FUNDERFUL (fun and wonderful)! I am not even sure if this is enough to describe the lantern parade of my beloved alma mater, The University of the Philippines. As we all know, U.P. is the country's biggest State University and is considered to be the one of the best in the whole world. This university produces quality graduates because of its fine education and top professors, most of the professors are also the top practitioners in their field here in the country. What makes U.P. even more beautiful is that even people who are coming from lower class can somehow afford the education here, well that was before tuition and other fee increase was approved by the current administration of the university.  Since fee adjustments were made from 6,000 to 17,000, how can low wage earners still manage sending their kids to this university? This increase of fees issue is just one of the things that the student activists of the university is trying to address (other issues: commercialization of U.P., political killings by the GMA administration and corruption in the government) the increase that President Roman's administration pushed for and approved is definitely a means of depriving poor students from getting quality education that the university can give. Indeed, there is a lack in the budget of this university but the fact that U.P. is a state university, it should be subsidized by the government. Gloria has been cutting down the budget of the University of the Philippines almost every year, what kind of subsidy is that? She is cutting down the budget when more funds should be given to the university because of the rising inflation rate. Given this situation, the Roman administration is passing the cost to the public for the simple fact that the little person in Malacanang who should be giving the correct amount that the university should have chooses not to do that. She can give hundreds of thousands to congressmen and governors and yet they are saying that they have to decrease U.P.'s budget because the government does not have much money/budget? Wait, I am confused... Malacanang does not have funds for education but they have money to spend on lawmakers/allies? Now let's go back to the decision of the officials of U.P. to increase the tuition fee, this is as simple as the principle of E-VAT. Since the government can't or won't get taxes from the people who should be paying the right amount of tax because of their huge businesses/properties, they will just get it from the common people. With the tuition fee increase, since the Roman administration is not getting more subsidy from the government, they just pass it to the students whom they suppose can't do anything about it. I agree that there are students in the university that are rich therefore they can afford to pay for the tuition fee of 17,000, but what about the greater number of students that can't afford this? "Habang buhay nalang ba natin ibabaon sa hirap ang mga mahihirap?" This is what the student activists were trying to address to the Roman administration last December 19, which led to a small commotion after the fun university lantern parade. Some students in who witnessed the scene shouted "Solusyon 'wag dada!" to the activists and some "boo-ed" the student militants. it was very disappointing to hear those people say that, it is one thing being apathetic but giving those kinds of reaction towards people who are fighting for change is another thing. These people, the student activists, are fighting for a cause that all of us should be fighting for and yet these are the treatment that they are getting? Let me ask those who are saying "Solusyon 'wag dada", what have they've been doing to solve these problems? Nothing, right? Why? Because they don't experience the sufferings of the people whom these activist are speaking for. To those people who shouted "Boo!" to these students, why would you do that? Because you think that your fun christmas celebration is being spoiled? Did you guys ever realize that even if one Christmas celebration is spoiled, you would still be able to spend Christmas? Did you ever think about those people who can't have any Christmas celebration at all and that these people are the ones that these activists are fighting for? Come on guys, you should know better, "Iskolar kayo ng Bayan" and we owe it to the people to help fight for change. "Great power comes great responsibility..." if my memory serves me right that is a famous line from the Spiderman, we too as U.P. students should be following that line. We are in "The University of the Philippines" not just to make our lives better but of the Filipino people as well. If the government is just wasting the people's money, let us change that by fighting the wrong things in the system and make the people feel that their money is getting somewhere. U.P. Fight!