Dragon Freedom Wall 2.0
#DragonFreedomWall4923
Genuine question about the new parking and vehicle sticker rates because I honestly don't understand the reasoning behind them.
Why are students being asked to pay significantly more for vehicle stickers while the actual parking rates are also being increased?
The new sticker reportedly costs 500 pesos, while parking has gone from 60 pesos to 70 pesos for cars and 50 pesos to 60 pesos for motorcycles. I know some people will probably say, "10 pesos lang naman yung increase." Sure. Per day. But students don't go to school once.
That additional 10 pesos gets paid again and again throughout the semester, on top of fuel, tolls, food, school materials, tuition, and all the other expenses that already come with studying here. And that's really what bothers me about increases like this. Individually, every additional expense can always be dismissed as "maliit lang." But put all of them together and they stop being small.
More importantly, can we please stop assuming that everyone studying in UA&P comes from a rich family? Some students come from middle-class families making very real sacrifices to afford tuition. Some are scholars. Some students work part-time or full-time. Some families budget carefully just to keep their children here. Not everyone can simply absorb every new expense because "UA&P naman yan." And even if someone can afford it, I think students are still entitled to ask what they're paying for.
If we're already paying 500 for a vehicle sticker just to have our vehicles registered and allowed inside campus, another 500 for a second vechile, and a ridiculously huge amount of 3000 pesos for a third car, why are we simultaneously being asked to pay more every time we actually park?
What changed? Did the cost of maintaining the parking facilities increase significantly? Are there improvements being introduced? Is there a particular reason both costs had to increase at the same time?
I'm genuinely asking because there may very well be a reasonable explanation. But if students are being asked to shoulder additional costs, I don't think asking for some transparency about where those increases come from is unreasonable.
This isn't about refusing to pay an additional 10 pesos. It's about recognizing that the cost of being a student is already increasing from multiple directions, and not every student experiences those increases the same way. 10 pesos may genuinely mean nothing to one person. To someone else, 10 pesos today, another 10 tomorrow, and another "small increase" somewhere else eventually becomes something they actually have to think about.
Nasan na ang Unitas na pinagmamalaki nateng lahat?
A little consideration and transparency would go a long way.
Submitted: August 17, 2026 11:55:02 AM PST