Not born overnight

When the sound of vehicles is slowly muffled by megaphones and when learning institutions are confronted with protest signs, then something must have gone completely wrong. 

A rally does not materialize out of thin air, nor is a movement born overnight; rather, a protest is the critical mass of long-ignored grievances, administrative neglect, and systemic failures that have quietly built up over time until finally reaching their boiling point. 

From August 13 to 17, numerous protests lodged themselves in the consciousness of the public, especially the Cebuanos.

On August 13, the Kabataan Partlylist – Cebu Normal University (KPL–CNU) chapter mobilized a protest inas defiance ofto the university’s Office of Student Affairs and Services (OSAS) Advisory No. 18, Series of 2026, labelling it as “oppressive.” The advisory specifically prohibits students from changing their hair color to anything other than brown or black, cross-dressing, having facial ornaments and facial hair, heavy makeup, visible tattoos, and having long or coloured nails. This pointed out that such rigid dress codes prioritize superficial conformity over student welfare and individual identity. 

At the Cebu Technological University – Main Campus (CTU–MC), students were also campaigning against their “repressive” student manual, which was allegedly created without a representative from the student body. 

Simultaneously, students from the University of San Carlos – Talamban Campus (USC–TC) likewise held a mobilization calling out the proposed tuition and other school fee increases for the academic year 2026-2027 of the university and calling for greater student representation in university affairs. For many families struggling against inflation, even minor fee hikes threaten to force students out of school. 

The University of the Philippines Cebu, as well, through its Student Council, staged a protest. It was particularly to oppose the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) attempt to conduct its Nationwide Enhanced Managing Police Operations Challenge within the premises of the university. An act students viewed as a direct violation of institutional autonomy and historical campus safe-haven agreements. 

Yet, the aftermath of these peaceful demonstrations proved even more alarming than the issues that sparked them. 

In CNU – Main Campus, although the group informed concerned offices, such as OSAS, of the demonstration beforehand, as they marched from the campuscampus’ canteen towards the main gate, KPL-CNU Chairperson Patricia Hope Alivio was dragged away by the security guards and was “unjustly interrogated and harassed.”

Later on, a supposed event to welcome freshman students was cancelled over a “security threat.” The PNP was also seen patrolling both inside and outside the premises of the campus.

Similarly, in USC-TC, after their mobilization, personnel from the PNP reportedly began inspecting vehicles entering and exiting the campus. Some personnel were also apparently s  seen roaming surrounding areas during the protest.

In CTU-MC, administration allegedly responded to the act by locking the campus gates, preventing students from joining the mobilization, and telling students that joining the protest would result in a violation slip. Instead of fostering open dialogue, administrative bodies chose intimidation. 

These demonstrations are the inevitable outcome of an academic system that repeatedly dismisses student struggles, only to express shock when students demand accountability. The heavy-handed response from administrators creates a glaring irony: educational institutions meant to cultivate critical thinking are silencing students the moment they exercise it to demand what they rightfully deserve. 

Reality is, even though laws have been passed to ease down the cost of education in the Philippines, such as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act that promotes universal access to quality tertiary education by providing free tuition, other school fees, tertiary education subsidies, and student loan programs for both state and local universities and state-run technical-vocational institutions, many Filipinos still find it extremely difficult to show up and go to school. By and large, state universities are finding it hard to accommodate students.

Under the proposed P7.2 trillion budget for 2027, the budget for the education sector was reduced.

From P47.5 billion, the budget for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has been reduced to P34.6 billion. The budget for state universities and colleges now runs at P134.5 billion, down from P137.9 billion. The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority’s (TESDA) budget ofat P26 billion has been decreased to P20.8 billion. The Department of Education’s (DepEd) budget has been cut off from P961.3 billion to P916.7 billion.

Amid the justification by the Budget department that the reductions are largely based on the agencies’ budget utilization rate, absorptive capacity, and readiness to implement programs, such reasoning won’t align with the fact that the 2027 proposed budget increased the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) budget by P112 billion despite concerns about its absorptive capacity, budget underutilization, implementation, and corruption issues, according to House Assistant Minority Leader Chel Diokno. 

If the government can allocate billions to infrastructure projects fraught with inefficiencies, it has no excuse to defund the nation’s schools.

Adding more weight to this already heavy burden is the fact that the learning environments in the country have become less about the students and more centered on those in the offices. ThisWhich is now reflected inby the several protests happening all over the country;, take Cebu, for example.

Protests do not erupt to cause disruption or security threats; they exist to force necessary reform.

When these issues are put on the sidelines—downplayed and seen simply as students overreacting. We risk failing the very individuals we have, since the time of Rizal, portrayed as the hope of this nation.

Instead, their grievances should be taken with urgency, just as much as how learning institutions call out security personnel as security concerns arise. They should never be minimized as menaces to society because when we no longer hear them, then our democracy must have lost its meaning.

What happens on the streets and now, inside school grounds, mirrors not the people holding the placards or megaphones, but rather is a reflection of a Philippines that is failing its youth.

Their decision neither came out of personal choice nor a sudden surge of ideas; it is their calling as an ‘Iskolar ng Bayan’ and as a Filipino to push for dissent against any policy or decision that does not take into consideration the people directly affected by it.

No one resorts to taking to the streets on a whim. Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, a movement is the critical mass of systemic failures—the tipping point of long-ignored realities on the ground. 

NoAs no protest is born overnight, but consecutive failures can, and eventually will.