SUCs set own policies on tuition fees: Palace

MALACAÑANG expressed its deepest sympathies Saturday to the family of Kristel Tejada, who allegedly committed suicide after she was forced to take a leave of absence for failure to pay P10,000 tuition fee at the University of the Philippines (UP).

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, in an interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan, said the Palace was saddened to what happened to 16-year old behavioral science student.

But she admitted that Malacanang has no control on how the state universities and colleges (SUCs) implement their tuition fees.

"While some of these state universities and colleges are such, SUCs, they are the ones setting their own policy...not the CHED (Commission on Higher Education)," Valte said.

UP is a state university.

Valte, however, said that CHED discourages such particular policy of forcing students to take a leave of absence.

"The schools can always withhold the grades, or the class cards. What CHED Chair (Patricia) Licuanan has said, they are always working to rationalize that particular policy, to rationalize the tuition fees," she said.

Tejada reportedly drank silver cleaner at their home in Tondo, Manila early Friday morning. She was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Meanwhile, Valte said Malacanang also extends its sympathies to the family of an 11-year-old student who was found dead in a university town of Los Banos in Laguna.

She said the Palace would ask the police to further heigthen their security in the vicinity of the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).

"While I’m pretty sure that they’re already investigating this, we will, again, we will tell them to heighten police visibility in that area to prevent this kind of crimes from happening," she said.

Authorities discovered the decomposing body of Marry Grace Esguerra, a Grade 3 student, who had been missing for over two weeks in UPLB vicinity. (SDR/Sunnex)