“This is the first time that I hear a presidential aspirant explain the need for a free college and university education for all Filipinos, and that there is money for this purpose,” Ibrahim Jaafar said after he heard Bishop Norberto Mercado speak on the topic.
Bishop Mercado told his audience composed of youth leaders from Muslim and Christian backgrounds that one of the best ways for people to get out from the vicious cycle of poverty is to have a college or university degree which will help him land in a job, as well as expand opportunities for economic improvement for his family.
“Many Muslim young people who are hopeless about the future because their parents can’t send them to college anymore due to poverty join the rebels , or even criminal groups. But if they will have the opportunity to go to college, I doubt whether they will still join those groups. We urge Bishop Mercado to run for President even if he is not popular as the other candidates. We will campaign for him among Muslims because we feel that he is concerned about our future, “ Jaafar said.
Saida Alonto, a Muslim student leader also said: “Bishop Mercado has a deep sympathy for the Muslim youth. When he said that he wants to implement a free college and university program for all Filipino youth if he becomes President, whether Christians and Muslims, my heart became excited. That’s the dream of young Muslims like myself. So we want him to run for President. He gives us hope, and so we are going to support him.”
Intan Sadak, a fresh college graduate, said, “Only a few Muslims are able to get a college education. What Mercado is proposing makes us excited, because many Muslims are poor and they can’t go to college. We want Mercado to run for President in 2010. We will ask our fellow Muslims to campaign for him even if he is not as popular and moneyed as the other traditional candidates.”
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