Various youth and student leaders protested against the budget proposal for the implementation of mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and the budget cut for the Free Education Law through a candle-lighting event held at the University of the Philippines - Manila (UPM) on Friday, Sept. 8.

Organized by the militant youth group Anakbayan, the protest was meant to signify the “light for dying democratic rights.”

“The flickering flames embody the resilience and determination of the youth in the fight against military control, in defense of our right to education and academic freedom,” Anakbayan Media Officer Lance Alba said.

The protest was attended by different youth and student leaders from State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), Local Universities and Colleges (LUCs), private schools in the National Capital Region (NCR), UP, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), University of Sto. Tomas (UST), Far Eastern University (FEU), among others.

These progressive groups resist the P61.2 billion budget proposal of the government for the urgent passing of the mandatory ROTC while cutting the budget for the Free Education Law or the Universal Access To Quality Tertiary Education Act amounting to P583.2 million and also for the SUCs with an amount of P6 billion for 2024.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier recommended an assessment of the free tertiary education scheme in SUCs, saying that the system is ''wasteful."

Diokno said there is a need to assess who will be privileged to free tertiary education and to lessen the number of 117 SUCs in the country through mergers to avoid "inefficiency."

For Alba, the right to education is the united stand of the students who are whether paying the tuition fee or not in college.

"I think obvious doon iyong unity even between state universities and private universities na may tuition man o wala, nagbabayad man ng tuition o hindi, naniniwalang ang edukasyon ay karapatan at dapat accessible para sa lahat." (I think it is obvious that there is unity between state universities and private universities whether tuition fees are paid or not, still believe that education is a right and should be accessible to all),” Alba said.

Aside from budget cuts, the youth groups also reiterated their opposition to the revival of the mandatory ROTC.

"In the first place, ang tindig natin sa Anakbayan ay ayaw nating ipitin tayo, ayaw nating ipitin ang kabataan sa isang gyera na hindi tayo ang makikinabang" (In the first place, our standpoint in Anakbayan is that we do not want us to be in the middle of the war where it is not us who will be benefited),” Alba stated.

Parts of the protest showed "blindfolded students weighing books and a gun" to represent the yearning of the youth for "education over violence and repression found in the Mandatory ROTC program." (Lizst Torres Abello)