BSU Management Endorses Solidarity Event After Initially Discouraging Students to Participate In It

Public pressure works. Yesterday, the BSU management released a public statement saying that they have "𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥" the scheduled walkout event on November 18. This event which will be participated in by universities in Baguio City (UB, SLU, UC, UPB) plus BSU in La Trinidad is a protest against education budget cuts, a call for higher state subsidies for the educational sector, a call for quality education, a protest against corruption, a call for accountability, etc. 

People voiced out their disagreement with the BSU management's stance. Students, alumni, and even faculty members defended the rights of students to protest. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻, the official student publication of BSU, released a statement supporting the rights of students to protest. The 𝗕𝗦𝗨 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 released a similar statement of support. 

Today, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗮𝗻 reported in an update that Kenneth A. Laruan, the president of BSU, has now endorsed and approved of the event. It will be held starting at the frontage of the BSU Library from 12 noon to 1:00 PM on Tuesday. 

Colleges and universities in Baguio City will be doing similar events. Participants from the involved schools will then hold a centralized program at Malcolm Square, Baguio City starting at 5:00 PM. 

This change in tune of the BSU management is a testament to the power of public pressure through the collective voice of the people. If people didn't protest online to voice out their concerns, this change of stance probably wouldn't have happened. 

Public pressure works. It's effective. And what drives public pressure? 𝗔𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿: Protests, both offline and online.