Malacañang announced on July 11 Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s veto of the National Polytechnic University (NPU) Bill, which would have granted greater autonomy to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) and its administration. Since it was proposed by Congress and Senate members, students and the PUP community have strongly opposed and resisted the measure.

According to progressive groups in PUP, the NPU Bill would further open the university to commercialization and privatization. They said this would result in the state’s further abandonment of its responsibility to fund public universities.

The state has long pushed for this proposed bill. In fact, an earlier version reached the Office of the President in 2019 but was scrapped. On June 9, the House of Representatives and Senate submitted a revised version of the bill to Marcos Jr, expectedly lapsing into law if left unsigned by July 9.

A statement from Anakbayan-PUP considered the rejection of the proposed bill a victory for the PUP community. “This is a major triumph of the collective action of the people’s scholars, together with the PUP community,” the group said.

Amid the bill’s false promises of development, the people’s scholars remained critical and firm in their stand that the NPU Bill will not address the worsening education crisis.

Nevertheless, Anakbayan-PUP asserted that Marcos’ veto of the proposal does not mean the university is safe from the threat of commercialization. “As long as our education system remains inherently neoliberal, education will remain commodified,” the group stated.

The group added, “even without the NPU Bill, our dreams are still being sold to greedy capitalists through high education expenses, poor facilities in public schools, and insufficient learning materials.”

Together with other PUP organizations, Anakbayan-PUP vowed to continue holding the US-Marcos regime accountable for its ongoing repression of the youth’s right to quality education.

On July 10, the PUP community held a protest at the Sta. Mesa campus and in Mendiola to denounce the NPU Bill. They also called for 100% budget allocation for the university.