USG President says ‘sorry’ for late TOFI statement
Multisectoral consultation meetings on tuition and other fees increase (TOFI) commenced on February 11, 19, and 26, during which College Student Governments (CSGs) took the lead in releasing statements of opposition.
College of Liberal Arts and Communication Student Government, College of Engineering and Architecture and Technology Student Government, posted their stances on social media on the 25th, and College of Tourism and Hospitality Management Student Government, and College of Science and Computer Studies Student Government, on the 26th.
A number of students have raised concerns, waiting for the University Student Government’s official statement which had not been released until the afternoon of February 27.
In response, “Gusto lang namin mag-sorry kasi medyo late namin na-release ‘yung statement,” University Student Government (USG) President Marvy Gomez said. “We are trying to do it one at a time and siyempre with coordination na rin with different college student governments, kasi we are giving the chance sa mga college student governments to do (gather) their sides.”
Gomez explained that they waited until the statement has been submitted to the DLSU-D administration, which will serve as an attachment to the documents to be submitted to Commission on Higher Education for approval, before they released the official statement.
“Ang mangyayari kasi ‘non if nag-release kami agad ng statement nang hindi pa namin na-submit sa admin, baka magkaroon kasi ng contradiction.”
Relatively, highest student governing bodies of other universities like that of De La Salle University – Manila, De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, and Lyceum of the Philippines – Manila took drastic efforts to oppose their respective proposed TOFIs, such as proposing an alternative percentage of increase, and holding public consultations and press conferences.
“Binigay na namin ‘yung power na ‘yun to different colleges. ‘Yun ‘yung main task ng college student governments, they need to represent each college. Ang naging problem kasi with regards sa USG during that time (multi-sectoral meetings) is we’re having a reconstruction under the University Student Government,” Gomez explained.
