Thousands of students joined planking activities.

MANILA, Philippines - Thousands of students on Friday walked out of their classes, joined planking activities or did their own version of Shamcey Supsup's "tsunami walk" to protest the looming budget cuts for state universities and colleges.

A report from ABS-CBN correspondent Niko Baua said students from the University of the Philippines-Manila started leaving their classrooms at around noon despite ongoing departmental pharmacy exams.

"A lot of the students refused to go but a number of them left their classrooms to join the protests," he said in a report on  ANC's Dateline Philippines.

He said the students will meet with other protesters at Isetann Recto before proceeding to Mendiola for a planking protest and flash mobilization to push for greater state support for education.

The National Union of Students of the Philippines said thousands of Iskolars ng Bayan from University of the Philippines, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Philippine Normal University, Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, Rizal Technological University, Marikina Polytechnic College and Technological University of the Philippines walked out from their campuses and marched.

NUSP said the UP Diliman community will conduct an “Isko Tsunami Walk” from Quezon City to Manila.

NUSP Secretary-General Vanessa Faye Bolibol said even teachers will be joining the protests.

"Kaya ang panawagan namin sa pamahalaan wag maging manhid. Hirap na hirap na ang state universities and colleges kung paano pagkakasyahin ang kakarampat na budget na binigay ng pamahalaan," she said.

Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of youth group Anakbayan, said the youth sector as well as the rest of the public are “extremely fed up and will not allow another round of budget cuts and misprioritization.”

He said bigger actions are being prepared in the next few months to push Congress and Senate to reject the 2012 “anti-people” Aquino budget.
 
“We stand-up today as Iskolar ng Bayan and pag-asa ng bayan. The Aquino government stop ‘planking’ ala-tuod. We will not tolerate a government which chooses not to provide adequate education and health services for its people. This is both a
wake-up call and a warning,” he said in a statement.
 
In the National Expenditure Program (NEP) for 2012, P21.8 billion was allotted for 110 SUCs, far from the more than P45 billion requested by the SUCs. This is lower than the this year’s SUC budget of P22.03 billion.

Fifty schools will have their total budget slashed by a combined P569.8 million, 45 will have cuts in their Maintenance and Operating Expenses (MOOE) funds by P250.9 million, and 58 will have cuts in Personal Services (PS) by P403.3 million. Budget allotted for Capital Outlay is zero.
 
The basic education budget of P238 billion is likewise insufficient, said Crisostomo. It will in real value amount to only P6.68 per Filipino per day spending, he said.

The UN recommended is 6% of the GDP which is at P550 billion.