An activist youth group mobilized in front of the Department of Education (DepEd) Central Office in Pasig on Friday, July 19—the first day of Sonny Angara as the new Education Secretary.

Members of the Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) held a picket protest to call on Angara to reject the implementation of “neoliberal measures” in the Philippine education system.

The group said this includes foreign ownership of higher education institutions in the proposed Marcos Charter Change, in the run-up to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22.

SPARK stated that Angara, a key ally of the Marcos administration, has “supported neoliberal” reforms to the education system and “strengthened the position of private education proprietors in the country” during his tenure as senator.

“Angara’s track record in the legislature, particularly in the education sector, has only exacerbated the crisis through deregulation and privatization,” SPARK National Coordinator John Lazaro said.

“Together with his push for Charter Change, he continues to be responsible for the dismal state of the nation: the systematic deprivation of public services to millions of Filipinos, especially the youth,” he added.

SPARK argued that the “shortcomings” of past administrations’ education policies forced students and their parents to contend with yearly tuition and other fee increases, poor infrastructure and facilities, and greater precarity for teachers and other workers in the education sector.

“Rather than creating an education system that can guarantee a sustainable future for Filipino youth, the current regime seeks to churn out students into meek sheep for the benefit of their allied local and foreign businesses,” SPARK alleged.

“With the impending Charter Change, that process will only be made much easier, given the proposed foreign encroachment in higher education,” he added.

Instead of pushing for “neoliberal” measures, SPARK emphasized the need to “establish free, accessible, quality, and safe education across the country, toward students’ complete and holistic development.”

“Elite interests have already resulted in an education crisis,” Lazaro said. “Surely, Angara must be aware of how much it can worsen should foreign proprietors enter this system. Enabling them to do so only means he is truly willing to sell millions of Filipinos’ futures away,” he added.

The group also rejected the current overtures for the Marcos’ Charter Change in anticipation of the SONA as a “brazen attempt to further liberalize the Philippine economy, to the detriment of the youth and the working class.”

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