18/08/2026
๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ก ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ง ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ: ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ง๐จ๐๐๐ก๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ง๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ก ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐๐๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
At the opening of the school year during the First Day Rage 2026, students from the University of San Carlos (USC) rallied and took to the streets to voice their outcry against the commercialized and neoliberal education system. The youth exposed and opposed how education is being treated like a profitable commodity, where every student's hard-earned money for food, transportation, family, and basic needs is funneled straight into the pockets of the institution without regard for students' rights.
Sab, Anakbayan USC representative, pointed out that Carolinians suffer month after month from rising tuition fees every year, hazardous or inadequate facilities, and student handbooks that lay down policies violating student rights through repressive dress-code policies and bans political activities. Year after year, students struggle against soaring commodity prices, tightening promissory note policies, and mounting "standard" requirements meant to extract utility from students to serve the true interests of capitalist educators.
"Education is a fundamental human right, and yet it is being treated like a profitable commodity, a luxury many of us can no longer afford.โ
Sab further explained: "The problem is not merely isolated to the OSFA itself, but lies with the Board of Trustees who hold the power to govern and formulate university policies. The Board of Trustees consists of businessmen connected to major corporations whose primary interest is to line their own pockets and generate massive profits from the institution. This structure directly ties into the issue of Tuition and Other Fee Increases (TOFI) because it is allowed and protected by state policies like the Education Act of 1982 and CHED deregulatory policiesโboth of which permit institutions to impose arbitrary fees. Thus, the problem is not isolated to a single school, but stems from a neoliberal and commercialized education system where schools are treated as business corporations and education as a business, leading to the fitting motto: 'SCIENTIA, VIRTUS, NEGOSYO!'"
Sab further added: "We must remember that the manifestation of commercialization is not just seen in TOFI; we also see it in the revision and removal of critical and humanist curricula to fit the interests of foreign and imperialist corporations, aiming to turn students into obedient and cheap laborers for the global market."
Wherever one goes, whether in San Carlos, Carbon, or during a daily commute, this system is inescapable. The rising tuition in schools, soaring fuel prices, and the privatization of Carbon are not separate problems, but rather the results of one single system and the same corporations that manage university boards and privatize social services. This neoliberal economic offense relies on state repression, where fee increases and attacks on the right to education are consistently backed by red-tagging, harassment, and intimidation directed against activists and critical organizations.
"Today, us, Carolinians, and the youth must fulfill our grand and historic role to fight for a nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education that serves the development of our own country, industry, and agriculture rather than serving the interests of foreigners and imperialists," Sab ended, calling on the militant youth to stand firm for a truly alternative education that is scientific, mass-oriented, and accessible to the public and working masses instead of turning schools into profit ventures for capitalist vultures.
Together as the militant youth, we stand united with different sectors in vehement condemnation of this systemic suppression of genuine education and people's rights!
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐!
JOIN ANAKBAYAN USC! ๐ป
https://bit.ly/JoinABUSC
https://bit.ly/JoinABUSC
https://bit.ly/JoinABUSC
Read full speech here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dl3p5NYK6GRrkH7adI70tIQhriC2V3eZLLUVvnAuOKM/edit?usp=sharing
