UP Manila student takes own life

MANILA, Philippines - A freshman student from the University of the Philippines Manila died on Friday in an apparent suicide, the student's professor said.

In a report published by the Philippine Collegian, the official student publication of UP Diliman, UP Manila Professor Andrea Martinez said the student was declared dead-on-arrival at the Metropolitan Medical Center at around 3:30 a.m.

Martinez said the student had been depressed and embarrassed before the time of her death. She added that the deceased was no longer attending her classes since February because she was not officially enrolled due to financial constraints.

"After she filed for a leave of absence, we spoke to her and she said she was sad and the leave of absence had a big effect on her and her family," Martinez was quoted as saying in the report.

The UP Manila administration approved last Nov. 12 a measure which bans students from attending their classes if they failed to pay their tuition on time, causing students to file for a leave of absence.

Based on the student's financial standing, the UP administration's Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program assigned her to Bracket D, requiring her to pay P300 per unit.

In 2006, UP hiked its tuition by 300 percent. The university implements a scheme categorizing students into brackets with corresponding fees depending on their financial standing.

Per unit, a student in UP Manila belonging in Bracket A (annual family income of P1 million and above) pays P1,500. 

Bracket B students (P500,001 to P1 million family income) pay P1,000 per unit; Bracket C (P135,001 to P500,000) P600; Bracket D (P80,001 to P135,000) P300 while Bracket E (no more than P80,001) students get free tuition.

The student reportedly requested for a student loan but it was rejected by the university's loan board. She also filed for a reassessment of her bracket assignment but such appeals take effect in the next academic year if approved.

“This is a sad and outrageous moment for us iskolars ng bayan. In behalf of the UP students, I express sympathy to the family and friends of [the deceased]. [She] will always be remembered in our continuous fight to realize the youth’s right to education,” UP Student Regent Cleve Arguelles was quoted in the report.