National Artist Kidlat Tahimik recently made the headlines when he announced that he was renouncing his title and returning his medal. His move was a symbolic protest against CHED's plan to reduce humanities-related general education units in college. To him, the move will further weaken students’ grounding in Filipino culture, history, and civic values.

The current employability vs citizenship debate highlights the tension between producing graduates who can readily fill jobs and those who can think critically about society. For millions of Filipino families, a college degree is a lifeline to social mobility. Graduates must leave university with skills that allow them to readily plug into industries, earn a living, and support their communities.

On the other hand, employers seek graduates who can adapt quickly, solve problems, and contribute to their competitiveness. Most of them have defined the competencies they need; without these competencies, the promise of higher education risks becoming hollow.

The Philippine economy, too, demands a workforce that can compete regionally and globally. ASEAN integration, digital transformation, and the rise of platform economies require graduates who are technically capable and industry-ready. Neglecting competencies risks consigning our youth to underemployment in a rapidly shifting labor market. Even if they are adaptable, they still have to contend with those realities.

Although we are beginning to see some smart and game-changing moves in our education sector, we are still seeing a system trapped in a historic pincer movement. On one side lies our documented learning crisis—confirmed by years of dismal international test scores that reveal our students are struggling with basic literacy and mathematical problem-solving. On the other side is the relentless onslaught of Artificial Intelligence, which is reshaping global industries. We understand the panic. How do we train a generation for an AI-driven economy when millions of our youth can barely comprehend a printed paragraph?

The humanities are often dismissed as “soft” disciplines, overshadowed by technical subjects that promise immediate employment. Yet as machines learn to calculate, optimize, and even generate text, the uniquely human capacities nurtured by the humanities become indispensable. These are the subjects that will make us better humans. As AI automates routine tasks, cognitive processing, and even basic creative work, human value shifts from what we can do to how we relate, feel, and navigate the world ethically.

AI is amplifying human capabilities at an unprecedented scale. But technology itself is neutral—it reflects the values, intentions, and systems of the people who design and use it. That is why the real challenge is not just building smarter machines but becoming wiser humans who can make ethical judgments, empathize, and create innovations anchored in values. The rapid rise of AI is forcing us to ask a fundamental question: When machines can think, calculate, and create, what is left for us to do?

Humanities and social science subjects train graduates to think critically, communicate clearly, and weigh consequences—qualities employers consistently rank as essential. AI may be able to process data, but it cannot discern justice. It can predict outcomes, but it cannot assign meaning and context. The humanities ensure graduates are not just efficient workers but thoughtful citizens capable of guiding technology toward human development.

The future workplaces need both. The age of AI collapses the false dichotomy between the humanities and competencies. What we need are hybrid graduates—individuals who can code but also question, who can analyze data but also interpret its ethical implications, who can design systems but also imagine their social consequences. Both will allow them to develop adaptability, which is the currency of the future. A major role of universities today is to prepare graduates for continuous reskilling. The humanities provide the adaptability and resilience to navigate disruption, while competencies provide the tools to thrive in new industries.

Consider the risks of imbalance. A purely technical education may produce efficient workers, but it risks creating a society that blindly follows algorithms without questioning their fairness. A purely humanities-focused education may produce thoughtful citizens but risks leaving them economically vulnerable in a competitive job market. The challenge is to integrate both strands into a coherent model.

We need graduates who can get jobs today and shape society tomorrow. The humanities ensure we remain human; competencies ensure we remain relevant. The debate between humanities and job-ready skills is actually a false choice. Our higher education system must embrace both and weave them into a balanced model that produces graduates who are employable, ethical, and resilient.

The author is an Executive Member of the National Innovation Council and Lead Convener of the Alliance for Technology Innovators for the Nation (ATIN). [email protected]