meine_schatze

The other night, I was browsing through a forum in Pinoy exchange and stumbled upon a long comment, which turned to a debate about the speech of the 16 yo valedictorian of UP Diliman. One argued that it was cheezy and judgmental. It was also mentioned that maybe UP students are just lazy and are usually late. The discussion even went slightly off the point when a ridiculous analogy was made which implied that UP students are not law abiding citizens. (click here to know further) .and i beg to differ.

I, too, cut through the grass and walk on the paved trail rather than the uneven pavement around buildings and the acad oval. I do this even when I am not late or even when I am not tired. I thought it was just the most logical path, since the shortest way from point a to point b is through a straight line. It’s my small achievement to know that I reached my destination with the least amount of energy spent. That covers the "partly true" phrase of her speech.

I can agree that the speech is judgmental especially to those who chose to work abroad out of necessity only if she was addressing, let say, the nation. But I want to take into consideration the context she was in. She was addressing a batch of Iskolars ng Bayan, which I myself would mind if they immediately apply for work abroad to seek a better life. This goes especially to those UP Med students who, right after graduation, went abroad for greener pastures; and those who plan to do the same. Without batting an eyelash, here are two words for you: Selfish and Corrupt.

We all know that if you want the best education at the lowest price for those who want to pursue medicine, it’s UP with a 20k tuition fee a sem. Compare this to UST’s jaw dropping 25k non-refundable reservation fee and 80k tuition fee a sem, and other private medical schools that ask for more or less, you’ll feel iskolar-ly alright. But the title doesn’t end there. we are not just Iskolars. we are Iskolars ng Bayan. We are subsidized by the government using taxpayers’ money.

I learned today that the Filipino people spend 100,000 pesos per UP Med student per semester for the world class quality of education, "facilities", faculty, laboratory fees, miscellaneous fees, etc. Yes, UP is actually more expensive than UST and St. Luke’s (though i dunno how. run down buildings, part time teaching doctors at 12k a month, not so high-tech instruments…). That’s 2 semesters a year. That’s 5 years of medical school. And UP admits 160 students in Level III or Year 1 of Proper Medicine. Sadly, 80% per batch doesn’t stay in the Philippines. After graduation, they usually study abroad for their residency, fellowship, specialization and rarely do they come back. If you do the math, that’s roughly 128M pesos down the drain for the Philippines in just a batch of UP Med students. Sounds like a form of corruption to me - using public money for personal gains.

So you see, I do mind if Iskolars ng Bayan leave without paying back the taxpayers’ money’s worth. I do not insist that they forget themselves and their families, and offer their whole lives to the service of the Filipino people (though I bet the country wouldn’t mind also if they do). I just believe that it is an Iskolar’s obligation to pay back or to pay forward. Two to three years of service (and not just through donations to alumni associations) could be enough to make other Filipinos’ lives better.

*this is a result of being oriented to the college*