“We should look into the root cause…. Beyond just the planking, what is the venue for dialogue? These people are just ordinary citizens who just want to express themselves,” Luistro said partly in Filipino.
Luistro also said the government should look for other avenues for protesters “where these sentiments could be held.” He added that protesters who engage in such should make sure “it is safe.”
Quickly becoming a fad in other countries, planking involves lying face down in unusual spots and locations, with one’s body rigidly straight and arms to the side to mimic a wooden plank, then having photographs or videos of the act taken for posting on the Internet.
Asked if he will also do the planking if there is something that he himself would also like to express that the government should look into, he smiled and answered “I was once an activist during my younger days.”
Earlier, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) sees nothing wrong with students using planking to express their discontent or protest during rallies.
The statement came amid the proposal of Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo to ban students from planking as a form of protest, saying it is dangerous for them.
Lawyer Julito Vitriolo, CHED executive director, said he sees nothing wrong with planking, for as long as it does not cause due unrest or disturbs traffic.
“That’s freedom of expression. But we are calling on protesters to ensure their safety and not to be a public nuisance. They must remember that their freedoms end when the right of others are being violated,” Vitriolo said.
He said leaders of the protest groups should be accountable to the safety of the people or students who will engage in planking.
On Friday protesters conducted a mass planking and “tsunami walk” that highlighted the weeklong protest of thousands of students in Metro Manila and 10 other provinces to protest the cuts in the 2012 budget for state universities and colleges (SUCs).
Other government employees, health workers, teachers, professors and school administrators joined the massive demonstrations, said Vencer Crisostomo, national chairman of youth group Anakbayan.
Among the participating SUCs were University of the Philippines-Diliman; UP Manila; Polytechnic University of the Philippines; Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology; and Philippine Normal University.
Simultaneous walkouts and mass planking also took place in La Union, Baguio, Laguna, Bicol, Iloilo, Tacloban, Cebu, Lanao, Pampanga and Bulacan, including 11 SUCs in Central Luzon.
Tsunami walk refers to the walk associated with Miss Universe third runner-up Shamcey Supsup, who had her signature and distinctive swaying of the hips—almost like flowing waves—while walking.
The students did the tsunami walk in their 13-kilometer march from UP Diliman campus to the Don Chino Roces (Mendiola) Bridge near Malacañang.
Crisostomo said despite a request from some 110 SUCs to be given a 45-billion budget in 2012, the government has only allotted P21.8 billion—smaller by P230,000 than the P22.03 billion budget this year—based on the National Expenditure Program (NEP).
According to the same NEP for 2012, 50 schools will have their total budget slashed by a combined P569.8 million, 45 will have cuts in their maintenance and other operating expenses funds by P250.9 million, and 58 will have cuts in personal services by P403.3 million. Budget allotted for capital outlay is zero.
The government has claimed that the budget for SUCs has increased by 10 percent through the miscellaneous personnel benefits fund and the SUCs’ development fund.
