Subversion Triggering the Guard Dogs
by Renato Bolo III
Cringe. Manloloko. A mockery of our education system.
Iskos and iskas born out of the University of the Philippines (UP) are always quick to bark at so-called “intruders” in their home. At the first sign of an unfamiliar face, these guard dogs ruthlessly unleash elitist, hateful remarks — symptomatic of a fatal social rabies. “Fake” UP students like Chynna Palma, Kathleen Joy Poblete, and Princess Neo were not spared from these attacks. But are these actions merely a defense of ethics, or a self-preserving display of moral ascendancy?
Ating Ipagdiwang Bulwagan ng Dangal
Year-end season fills the air with clinks of medals in malls, in samgyup-hotpot places, and elsewhere. Academic validation fills the air as families show off their medaled children in a silent competition of who produces the loudest clinks. Yet, what may seem to be symbols of achievement may actually be subtle collars, where the coveted sablay itself morphs into a leash to a system that glorifies academic achievement.
The university hymn reflects its reverence for education, where academic hardships are romanticized and success grants entry into the exclusive circles of the academe’s elite. The system of meritocracy fosters feelings of moral ascendancy, breeding a superiority complex in those who enter the gates of the “pamantasang hirang.” This, paired with institutional glorification symbolized by the sablay piety, forms exclusionary practices that transform UP into a guarded elite, whose morally ascendant scholars are bred as guard dogs whose rabies seethes with the virus of academic hegemony, a system that enables the ruling class to maintain dominance.
Infected with this virus, prestigious universities such as UP become part of the widespread apparatus that legitimize a system of inequality. Recognizing that access to education has always been shaped by existing privileges, the idea of “just meritocracy” is thus revealed to be oxymoronic. Failures are interpreted as personal shortcomings rather than outcomes of long-standing structural barriers, leading individuals to internalize the intense pressure to conform to the existing norms of merits and prestige.
This “coercion” comes with “consent” — how society internalizes the dominant ideology of the guarded elite that institutions like UP are legitimate arbiters of knowledge and that credentials secure one’s place in a stratified society. Such a dynamic manifests in hegemonic factors that compel individuals to engage in a system without questioning its fairness. Hegemony operates not only externally but also internally, through the imposition of norms that align with capitalist ideas of material productivity within the guarded elite, thus reinforcing their eminence — ipagdiwang ang bulwagan ng dangal.
Ang Tinig Namin Sana’y Inyong Dinggin
Although the subsidized tuition fees in state universities are a step toward de-commodifying education, credentialism still holds power: material symbols of success, like diplomas, overshadow the actual acquisition of knowledge. For those misled by the system to believe that their inability to reach success is their own shortcoming rather than a systemic fault, trying to break into the home of the guarded elite must not be misconstrued as selfishness. Instead, it is a liberating force whose surge has finally caused the first crack in the reinforced bubble of the academe.
In meritocracy-glorifying society, faking credentials — as seen in the cases of Chynna, Kathleen, and Princess Neo — can be viewed as resistance to the academe’s coercive and exclusionary practices. By circumventing traditional paths of academic validation in entering the home of the guarded elite, they reject and expose the norms of consent imposed by academic hegemony, thus subverting the idea that prestigious degrees are the only legitimate measure of knowledge or competence.
They have become wary of the system that builds its foundations on inequality. The lack of slots in UP is reflective of a broader exclusivity that trickles down into the units of society; the losses in the workforce due to contractualization have urged the masses to mobilize. Continuous budget cuts in UP indicate inequity in funding allocation, a reflection of how the government has likewise not allocated enough for the minimum wages of the workforce. The counter-hegemonic effort does not manifest only within the academe as this academic anti-hegemony only forms a smaller set of a larger, burgeoning movement.
It should not be implied, however, that what these “fake” UP students have done is ethical. Still, the manner in which this is addressed is concerning: the biting reactions of UP students and graduates reflect their subconscious training to perpetrate the rabies of academic hegemony. The moral ascendancy of these guard dogs safeguard the coercive standards imposed by a broken system, ensuring that those beyond the gates of the guarded elite must adhere to the traditions of familiar meritocracy.
By allowing the dominance of viral hegemonic rabies, UP constituents fail to recognize their role as “iskolars ng bayan.” Their superiority complex blinds them to the systemic factors that push people like Chynna, Kathleen, and Princes Neo to drastic measures. While individuals are indeed responsible for their actions, the standing system remains elitist and exclusionary contrary to its fake progressive facade. This failure of UP students to actively engage in counter-hegemonic efforts despite having the consciousness to do so is a greater crime against those oppressed by the status quo.
The actions of “fake” UP students, if any indication, expose the contradictions and inequalities of the hegemonic system. Their actions are no personal vendettas; instead, they form part of larger counter-hegemonic efforts challenging the system’s monopoly on academic validation. Theirs was an act of subversion that triggered the guard dogs of UP.
The measures that Chynna, Kathleen, and Princess Neo took are a cry of resistance that must be heard — mga tinig na karapat-dapat dinggin.
Humayo’t Itanghal, Giting at Tapang
Still, it is not the fault of UP students that they have been manipulated into participating in the widespread hegemonic mindset. They, too, are coercively submitted to a system that leashes its victims. But, UP students and graduates alike have a consciousness that should remind them of their responsibility to consciously seize the opportunity for individual and collective enlightenment. Otherwise, they shall remain as the tethered guard dogs of the elite, unable to break free from their chains. They must draw inspiration — though, not imitation — from the subversions that triggered them in the first place: subversions that undermined the system with which they were comfortable.
UP students are now faced with the challenge to cultivate active ideological struggle alongside the masses in the all-encompassing movement to dismantle the flawed system. Combating this force will be no easy feat. However, in eradicating hegemonic social rabies and healing from its bites, it shall take tireless grit from the “matatapang, matatalino” to fully realize the potential to destroy their restraints and deconstruct the exclusionary reality — humayo’t itanghal ang giting at tapang.
