During Noynoy's term, a college student kills herself because of unpaid tuition

Just recently,  President Rodrigo Duterte signed a new law, Republic Act 10931 or "Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act," providing free education for over a million students in public tertiary and vocational schools nationwide.

RA 10931 also covers other charges, namely "library fees, computer fees, laboratory fees, school ID fees, athletic fees, admission fees, development fees, guidance fees, handbook fees, entrance fees, registration fees, medical and dental fees, cultural and other similar or related fees."



This move is considered by the majority of Filipinos as one of the big accomplishment of the Duterte administration.

Following the said news, several netizen brought back an old issue during Noynoy Aquino's term wherein a college student from the University of the Philippines ended her life because of tuition woes.

Darwin Cañete, a city prosecutor even posted a screenshot of the news related to the same. "Remember... Noynoy never gave a shit. President Duterte just signed a law that assures that there will be less of this in the future," he captioned.

Screenshot from Atty. Darwin's post

The old article stated that a 16-year-old Behavioral Sciences student of University of the Philippines (UP) Manila committed suicide before dawn on 2013 when Noynoy Aquino was still the president.



According to reports from the Philippine Collegian and Manila Collegian, the student committed suicide inside her home in Tondo, Manila, two days after she filed for a leave of absence (LOA).

The student was forced to take a LOA because her family could not afford to pay her tuition, said by one of the professors of the Department of Behavioral Sciences..

The student was the eldest of five children. Her father is a taxi driver and her mother a housewife.

The student also requested for a tuition loan was also denied by the UP Manila loan board it was already mid-semester, ABS-CBN News cited.

Meanwhile, UP Manila (UPM) said in a statement that it is deeply saddened by the passing of the student.

The university also said it is extending financial assistance to the student's family.

Netizens expressed their dismay on the former administration as the latter did not give importance to students who has potentials but cannot afford to pay expensive tuition fees.

"He [Aquino] didn't care and he doesn't care for Filipinos..tama lang ang descripition sa kanya ni tatay Digong," one netizen commented.

Another concerned citizen commented, "May her soul rest in peace. Sorry wala pang katinuan ang mga namumuno ng panahon na yan.."

Source/s: Darwin Cañete, ABS-CBN News, CNN Philippines

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