Metro Manila, Philippines – The Kabataan Party-list is urging the Bestlink College of the Philippines to refund its students’ payment for the controversial off-campus trip in Bataan, with some dubbing it a “death march.”
Following Bestlink’s denial of claims about the trip, Kabataan national spokesperson Renee Co noted that the students’ “death march” was streamed live on social media. Some students complained of hunger, exhaustion, and lack of sleep.
“Huwag nating i-gaslight ang mga estudyante para makaiwas sa pananagutan. May mga nahimatay pa nga,” Co said on Sunday, Feb. 2.[Translation: Do not gaslight the students to evade accountability. Some even fainted.]“Dapat i-refund ang binayad ng mga magulang para sa trip na ito lalo na’t marami sa mga anak nila ang napilitan lang sumali dahil binabantaan silang ibablangko o ibabagsak ang grado nila kung hindi,” she added.
[Translation: The parents’ payment for the trip should be refunded, especially since many students were forced to participate due to threats of receiving a blank or failing grade.]
Congress, Co said, should launch an investigation into private schools’ “expensive” off-campus trips which she noted becomes a “scam” to get money from students.
Bestlink College organized an off-campus trip to Punta Belle in Hermosa, Bataan for its 23rd founding anniversary on Jan. 26.
