March is designated Fire Prevention Month but ironically this is the month when numerous fire incidents break out in Metro Manila and Cebu, a pattern seen over the years.
Of course there are varied causes for the fires, foremost of which is lack of vigilance to take steps to prevent it from happening.
The number one cause of fire is basically electrical misuse, followed by cooking accidents inside the house where the fire is left unattended, often by someone who has stepped out for an errand.
Another cause involves children who are left alone at home and play with matches. Before they know it, the house catches fire and sometimes spreads throughout the neighborhood. Then there’s the abuse of electrical extensions at home where there are few outlets and a lot of appliances. In Manila, the problem of illegal connections and tapping into the power supply is also happening here in Cebu.
I hope that with the fast-growing population especially in urban areas, residents exercise more vigilance to prevent these fire hazards. Here are some reminders.
First, stop stealing electricity by illegally tapping into the power supply of your neighbor with or without their permission.
Second, minimize the use of electric extensions at home, especially octopus extensions.
Third, please don’t leave a cooking fire unattended or leave children unsupervised at home. In communities that are thickly populated, residents should be extra careful in watching over their neighbors especially in preventing fire.
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Now that the semester is about to end and a new school year is set to begin, schools are faced with the perennial issue of tuition increases. Militant students continue to mouth their motherhood statement opposing any increase. I understand the objections, especially because a tuition increase is indeed an additional burden on parents. But my beef with student protestors is that they are barking up the wrong tree with demonstrations and rallies that blame the school administration.
When I was president of the University of San Carlos (USC) faculty association, I had the opportunity to look closely into this problem. One must remember that the USC administration didn’t ask for the tuition increase; it was the teachers and non-teaching employees who did so that the school could provide better salaries and compensation.
The school administration had to accede to the call of employees and even pleaded with the staff to keep the increase minimal because it would burden students. And indeed, the tuition hike at that time was minimal.
Today, I reiterate my position that militant students are addressing their complaints to the wrong party. Protests have recurred for years yet schools continue to increase their tuition.
If I were the students, I would ask Congress to amend the law passed during the Marcos era that specified that any increment of tuition increases would be the source of benefits asked for by employees. The Marcos-era presidential decree mandates how the pie is to be divided with 70 percent to go to wages and benefits of teachers and non-teaching employees, 10 percent for the profit of the school and 20 percent for the development of universities and colleges.
There was a time that employees and teachers used up to 80 percent of the incremental tuition increase. What students can do is review the finances of the schools by hiring good accountants and to double check if the collected tuition increase is used for what it was intended especially since there are many fees imposed by private colleges and universities.
Militant students should lobby and ask Congress to grant the teachers and employees a tax break of 50 percent of their salary. With this, school personnel will have better take-home pay, and moratorium on tuition increases may even happen.