On Friday, June 19, the PUP Sentral na Konseho ng Mag-aaral (PUP-SKM), together with other organizations from colleges of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, gathered at the PUP Theater located in the PUP College of Communication Building to commence the State of the PUP Address (SOPA) in preparation of this year’s State of the Nation Address by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, which took place on Monday, July 22, 2024.
The State of the PUP Address or SOPA 2024 is an annual activity aimed to analyse and criticize President Marcos Jr.’s actions for the past two years of his six year term in the office. The event discussed various issues such as the on-going budget cut of state universities in the country, the unjust policies of the National Polytechnic University (NPU) Bill and forceful repression of the students’ voice inside the academe.
The speakers of the event also talked about the challenged faced by the workers’ against contractualization and the demand for a higher wage rates, as well as the on-going conflict and increasing tension between Philippines and China regarding the West Philippines Sea.
In addition to that, Fritz Labiano, a PUP Alumnus and former Graphics Editor of the university’s official publication, The Catalyst, shared his continuous implementation of his militant advocacy by assembling young people in Quezon to fight for academic rights and press freedom. He also added the struggle of farmers in the Southern Tagalog region as they still haven’t received their own land distribution as promised by the government. Labiano also shared his experience of being unjustly charged of Terrorism Financing Act and Anti-Terrorism Act after he provided paralegal aid for political prisoners. The case was dismissed and won by collective action. He emphasized that helping others isn’t an act of terrorism but rather the true terrorism is the government itself, who continuously violated the human rights of the people.
The PUP Community rated the two-year reign of President Marcos Jr. as F or Failing grade, voicing out their strong dissatisfaction for his performance in his two-year tenure. The speakers delivered a three Withdrawn (W) and two Singko (5), signifying their lack of expectation from the Marcos Jr. administration. They stated that Marcos Jr.’s lack of action is evident with the insufficient quality of education that should be provided to the students and the ongoing repression of academic rights and press freedom within the academe.
The event was attended by the 24th ANAK Fed and representatives from different organizations of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. As concluding program of the event, the students’ demanded to, quote, “Panagutin si Marcos Jr. at tugunan ang danas ng PUP”, urging for the president and the administration to address the issue not only faced by the student but also to the issues being faced inside and outside the university.
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