Teachers, academics, students, and education advocates gathered at the Palma Hall AS Steps in the University of the Philippines Diliman to mark the 165th birth anniversary of national hero José Rizal, renewing their call to defend nationalist education and oppose the Commission on Higher Education’s proposed Reframed General Education Curriculum Component (RGECC).
Participants, led by the General Education Movement (GEM) and the UP Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas, offered a wreath inscribed with “Makabayang Edukasyon, Ipaglaban!” and held a short program underscoring Rizal’s enduring vision of education as a tool for critical thinking and national consciousness.
Educators Warn of Erosion in Humanities
According to GEM, the commemoration comes at a critical juncture as the RGECC threatens to reduce General Education units and further marginalize disciplines such as History, Literature, Philosophy, and Ethics.
“Rizal understood that education is not merely the acquisition of skills but the cultivation of critical and socially conscious citizens,” GEM said. “To commemorate Rizal while allowing the erosion of Humanities and Social Sciences would be to ignore the very lessons his life and works teach us.”
The group emphasized that recent curriculum changes have already narrowed education to market demands, undermining subjects that foster historical consciousness and civic engagement.
Calls for Democratic Review
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) joined the commemoration, stressing that the RGECC risks worsening the education crisis by prioritizing employability over critical thought. ACT reiterated its demand to scrap the proposal and instead strengthen courses that cultivate analytical thinking and uphold education’s transformative role.
Meanwhile, the UP Collegian reported that students and faculty of Filipino Studies offered flowers at Rizal’s bust in Palma Hall, carrying with them the plea to resist reforms that weaken General Education.
Rizal’s Legacy and National Struggle
“Rizal’s legacy reminds us that education must serve the people and the nation,” GEM declared. “The struggle for General Education is ultimately a struggle for an education system that develops critical, informed, and socially engaged Filipinos.”
The movement vowed to continue consultations, information campaigns, and advocacy efforts in defense of nationalist, scientific, and mass-oriented education.
Parallel Commemoration
The event coincided with the TATSULOK Pambansang Kumperensiya sa Philippine Studies 2026, held June 18–19 at UP Diliman’s College of Arts and Letters. With the theme “Rizal at Pagkamakabayan,” the conference gathered at least 400 educators, students, researchers, and activists to continue Rizal’s legacy of nationalist education. # (RANDY NOBLEZA)
