College Students Group to Burn Bam Aquino 2018 Calendar as Epal Protest

A group of college students in Batangas will burn tons of copies of Bam Aquino 2018 calendar on this coming Saturday, January 13, as a protest to what they described as “Epal” or self promotion. According to the Comelec (Commission on Elections) rules, the Liberal Party (LP) senator can run for re-election in 2019 since he was elected in 2013.

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“Walang kaduda-duda na Epal si (Sen.) Bam Aquino sa kanyang pinalabas na 2018 calendar. Maagang pangangampanya ito para sa 2019 elections, at hindi kami papayag na gawin niya ito. Ellalaine Lat, president of ASSCUB (Alliance of Students in State Colleges and Universities of Batangas) said in a statement this Thursday, January 11.

(There is no doubt that (Sen.) Bam Aquino is Epal in his 2018 calendar. This is a form of early campaigning for the 2019t electionst, and we will not allow it.)

“Daan-daan nang kopya ang binigay sa amin ng mga mamamayan na naiinis sa ginawa niya. Akala niya (Aquino) siguro mabobola niya kami dito sa Batangas. Tapos na ang panahon ng mga Aquinos at mga Dilawan. Kitang kita yun sa mga surveys.” The student group leader added, referring to the recent SWS and Laylo surveys.

(Hundreds of copies have been submitted to us by dismayed citizens. He thinks that he can fool us here in Batangas. The time of the Aquinos and the Yellows are finished. It can be seen in the surveys.)

The 2018 calendar in question shows a photo of Sen. Bam Aquino, his wife Timi Gomez-Aquino, and their daughter Rory, as a happy family. It also bears the slogan, “Itaguod natin ang kalidad ng edukasyon para sa Pamilyang Pilipino,” and the new law he sponsored and co-authored, the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.



Under this new law, which was signed by President Duterte last August, students of 112 state universities and colleges (SUCs) across the country will no longer need to pay for their tuition and other fees during the second semester of the current school year (SY) 2017 to 2018. It has been assumed to need at least P16.8 billion for its first year of implementation.

Contributed by Cherry Luz Alcantara