Duterte: Students won’t lose their scholarships for expressing dissent vs gov’t policies

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said that expressing dissent against government policies and attending rallies could not be a basis for the revocation of a student’s scholarship.

However, he said students who “espouse the destruction” of the government could lose their grant.

The President made the remark after National Youth Commission (NYC) chair Ronald Cardema asked him to issue an Executive Order to revoke the scholarships of “rebellious and anti-government” students.

READ: NYC chair: Remove scholarships of ‘anti-government’ students

“Wala naman kung dissent lang (If it’s only dissent, no). If you disagree with my move, you disagree, or you do not find consonance in our decision, fine,” Duterte told reporters in an interview in Malacañang.

“But if you go and say, ‘let us go out, join the NPAs, support the NPAs, give food to the NPAs, money to the NPAs,’ then you espouse the destruction of the duly constituted government,” he added.

The President said students could lose their scholarships “if they espouse (the destruction of) the very government feeding food on their mouth.”

“If you espouse to overthrow the government, then you are committing a crime of rebellion,” Duterte said.

“And when the time comes, I will arrest all of them and they will lose everything that government has offered them,” he added. /ee

READ: Palace: Revoke scholarships? Prove first if students are in anti-gov’t forces