ready your typo as the “decimation” of information… kinda true, when the truth out there is so clouded nowadays… haha!

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The friar system reformists like Rizal intended to dismantle had an entrenched network of power relations among its surrogates, mostly landowning families of Chinese descent who originally had served as stewards for the estates of the monastic orders, morphed into hispanized hacienderos, then transitioned as mutually-buttressing guilds or factions of Marxian bourgeois and cosmopolitan elites. In hindsight, one would be hard put to surmise whether the uprising fueled by Rizal’s ultimate sacrifice could have ended the system (had the Americans not come into the picture from out of the blue). The fact is that Rizal had been fearful in Fili, and rightly so, of “(freeing) the slaves of today, if they will be the tyrants of tomorrow.” For, those who were waiting in the wings—to succeed to the powers of the Pulpit—were fawning sycophants, hostage and servile but only to the fat friar. To the ignorant and powerless, like the Crispins and the Basilios of Noli, they were as fiendish and callous hirelings who savored every conceivable scent of power, as was the petty and abusive parish sacristan mayor who, as the darker side of the Filipino character in the novel, had made use of every niggling authority it had arrogated unto himself. Still, and in fairness, there were many of them who emerged as the ilustrado, the enlightened ones, and joined the nationalist movement against Spain and then, but only for a fleeting chapter, against the Americans.

Many ilustrados, to preserve their privileges, abandoned the nationalist cause to collaborate with the Americans even while the war was in progress. They saw themselves as heirs apparent and logical beneficiaries of yet another “royal grant” from the new sovereign.

Hi MLQ3,
It has been pointed out by social historians that the principalia in the late 19th century in many cases did not descend from the prehispanic chiefly class but were Chinese mestizos who rose to prominence in society starting in the 18th century. The mestizos did so by using their commercial/industrial wealth to accumulate land. The effect was probably to displace many of the remaining descendants of those prehispanic chiefs who originally accepted Spanish sovereignty. You might say the prehispanic royalty/nobility found their position dissolving under relentless socio-economic pressure. Although there was probably not much of royalty to begin with in terms of territorial jurisdiction except for the sultanates in Mindanao.

my neighbor who’s husband is a seaman had to ask two of his sons to forego schooling if only for this year because the remittance that her husband is sending them had shrunk significantly because of the exchange rate. she could not now afford to send all of them to school.

only the government seemed to benefit from the peso apprecaiton and high taxes

But if I’m not mistaken, the issue was either poverty or the environment.

one very good part of government programs towards financing students’ post secondary education in our system is the student’s loan which does not require government outlays, but in actuality an arrangement made by the government to the banks or financial institutions to provide the financing and the government paying the interests duration of students attending their classes, until such time that they have completed their training and ready to assume paying the loans.

There were instances of Bad Loans, but most would strive to finish their education so they can have a better job and pay up their students’ loans in a hurry. And that is applicable not only in the country’s schools, but anywhere in the world the student wants to go to…

There was an initial funding in 1998 in the General Appropriations Act of one billion pesos, I’m going to check in the 2006 budget if it’s still there or if it was increased. I think not only the honor students can avail of this subsidies, if the annual family income does not exceed P72,000.00, a student can avail of this subsidy. The problem lies in the amount to be subsidized, it must not exceed the cost per student in the Public School.

Another problem is the decimination of information regarding the benefits of this act. A lot of underprivileged students do not know this law.