Kristel Tejada Suicide: UP President Releases Statement

Kristel Tejada, a 16-year-old poverty-stricken freshman student at the University of the Philippines Manila, committed suicide on Friday, a couple of days after she was forced to go on leave for failure to pay tuition on time.

Kristel Tejada

"I am deeply saddened by the untimely and tragic death of our UP Manila student Kristel Tejada." UP President Alfredo E. Pascual said in a statement. "It is unfortunate that this tragedy happened a day after I instructed the Chancellors of all UP units at our council meeting held last Thursday that we should not deny access to qualified students who can not enroll because of financial constraints."

Pascual added that even before Tejada's death he has made efforts to improve UP's financial assistance program.

"To think also that the reforms I have been pushing since I took office to simplify the STFAP application process and increase the financial aid for poor students are already planned for Board of Regents action next month," he said. "But it takes time to implement change. We can easily be overtaken, as we have been, by a sudden turn of events. But I am confident we can turn the tragedy into a greater resolve to act and make UP accessible to the poor."

The UP official promised that his administration "will take the necessary steps to address the policy and administrative issues that are related to this unfortunate tragedy."

21 comments:

AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 1:05 PM
Her only sin is being poor. And she worshipped UP so much. UP is not the end-all and be-all of aspiring students. You students should understand that. Kahit sa obscure schools sa probinsiya kayo nag-aaral basta pinagbubuti nyo ang pag-aaral nyo at matataas ang grades nyo, may potential kayong umasenso. Sa board/bar exams yan magkakatalo.
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 1:30 PM
ang gusto lang niya ay mag-aral. I could have sent her to school... shedding tears for a lost soul isn't enough to fill in the void.
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 1:49 PM
Isang araw lang winawaldas ng iba ang halaga ng pera na nagudyok sa kanya para magpakamatay. Sana'y magsilbing aral ito sa nakakarami. RIP Kristel
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 6:10 PM
corrupt
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 7:39 PM
may your soul rest in peace..masarap mbuhay,pero pinili mo mgpakamatay.Sna mging hapi ka,in Gods arm..
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 8:31 PM
My sympathies to her family.

But it's unfair to UP for shouldering all the blame of the kid's death.
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 9:52 PM
pagbuhay pa ang tao ay walang tutulong...pag namatay na tsaka itong mga daldal na ay huli na ang lahat. Sana man lang, lumapit sya sa mga lokal opisyal ng goberyno o d kaya sa mga media. Maraming paraan, diskarte lang talaga sa buhay natin.
AnonymousMarch 18, 2013 at 11:35 PM
Maybe she didn't commit suicide just because of financial problem. May iba pa sigurong dahilan. Sinayang nya, dami nya pang pwedeng gawin. She shouldn't have chose to suicide. She's smart, she could have been done better. Aside from suicide is a sin to God, it will not resolve the problem anyway. Poor girl. RIP.
AnonymousMarch 19, 2013 at 1:52 AM
This incident really made a great impact on me. It reminded me of my college days. Para sa isang estudyante na nanggaling sa mahirap na pamilya, edukasyon ang itinuturing na natitirang susi para mabago ang antas ng pamumuhay.

Batid kong wala ni isa man sa atin ang nasa tamang posisyon para magbigay ng huling salita kung ano ang tunay na sanhi ng pagpapakamatay ni Kristel, pero nakakalungkot isipin na kung ito ma'y dahil sa tuition fee, napakamura ng buhay.

Nakikiramay ako sa pamilyang naulila ni Kristel.
AnonymousMarch 19, 2013 at 6:08 AM
Wala naman tayo dapat sisihin sa nangyari.. To her family,
my condolences.
Kristel i hope your ok wherever you are.. * RIP *
AnonymousMarch 20, 2013 at 7:19 AM
sinayang nya buhay nya .. tsktsk -_-
AnonymousMarch 20, 2013 at 7:09 PM
kasalanan s dios ang pgppkamatay,,,pro gnwa nya,,,mtalino xa pro d nya naicp un,,,
s bgay ngwa nya n eh,,,,

hnd pgpapakamatay ang solusyon s problema!!'that‘s a big lesson!!!!
AnonymousMarch 20, 2013 at 10:30 PM
nakakalungkot lang isipin na naging makitid ang pag-unawa nya sa buhay.napakaliit na bagay ang kahirapan upang kitilin ang sariling buhay.Sana kung mas naging matibay sya, mas malayo pa sana ang kanyang mararating :( Dapat maging aral ito sa mga estudyanteng tanging sarili lang nila ang iniisip at di alintana ang paghihirap ng kanilang mga magulang na nagkukumahog mapaaral lang sila.walang magulang na naghangad n mawalan ng anak nang dahil lang sa kanilang kakulangan.
AnonymousMarch 21, 2013 at 10:13 AM
Maraming sana, sana...
AnonymousMarch 21, 2013 at 4:09 PM
Individuals are not alike,for some...committing suicide is the easiest,fastest solution to their problems.They don`t give time to reflect on esply when they are so confused.We may consider some problems very minimal, but for some who have not the courage to shoulder them find it so grave.For some,they wanted to inflict guilt on who might have caused or contributed to their problem/s and they resort to committing suicide.R.I.P..Kristel.
AnonymousMarch 21, 2013 at 4:29 PM
I don't feel sorry for UP for being blamed for her death you know why?! because that Mother Fawking University is supposed to be for the POOR Filipinos with great potentials to be able to study and finish. I don't understand how and why they didn't allow this kid to take the freaking exam! for crying out loud it is supposed to be subsidized by the government why was it acting like a fucking private school?! She's supposed to be the kid the university is helping not hogging off money from! like seriously WHAT THE FUCCK!
AnonymousMarch 23, 2013 at 8:30 AM
dnt blame UP nor kristel for wat she did, what done is done, RIP to her, if u want real quality education for the poor and deserving students like me, go to mindanao... theres a public university here that gives u what u need.. (no need to mention the school) its one of the top 10 performing universities in philippines..
AnonymousMarch 23, 2013 at 5:58 PM
hindi pala lahat ng istudyante sa UP ay matatalino.... may bobo rin pla....
AnonymousMarch 24, 2013 at 10:23 PM
UP was my end all be all. I have romanticized UP for as long as I can remember. But let me stress this out, UP is not only for the poor. It is for students who passed the UPCAT regardless of their finacial capabilities. And to say that UP is only for the poor, is also a social discrimation. What killed Kristel Tejada is not UP nor the system. What killed her is her lack of willingness to live as she chose the easy way out. Lahat tayo naghihirap. At one point or another we all have experienced hardships tantamount to Kristel's. And in my opinion, as insensitive as it may seem, Kristel was unstable. And in whatever situation with the same gravity as this one, she would still probably commit suicide. I am not speaking ill of the dead. I am stating the obvious that Kristel might've commited suicide not just because she couldn't afford to pay her tuition. She may be depressed for a lot of reasons and to blame UP solely for her act is rather unfair.
AnonymousMarch 25, 2013 at 12:00 AM
^I agree. Hindi lang sya ang nawalan ng pagkakataon mag-aral at naging biktima ng sablay na educational system. Marami din dumanas ng mga pinagdaanan nya pero lakas loob nilang hinarap ang hamon ng buhay. Hindi nakatulong sa kanya at sa pamilya nya ang pagpapakamatay. Sayang. Pwede naman sya magtrabaho habang nag-aaral at humiram ng pera pambayad nung utang nya.

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