Pamantasan ng Cabuyao adopts English-only rule, sparks backlash
Photo from Cabuyao City Mayor Dennis Felipe ‘DenHa’ Hain/FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines — The Pamantasan ng Cabuyao in Laguna has implemented an English-only policy across all official university transactions, classes, and interactions.
It cited as reason its goal of fostering academic excellence and global competitiveness.
In an official announcement on Monday, the university declared itself an English-speaking campus effective February 3, 2025.
“In line with our vision of developing globally competitive and world-class students, the Pamantasan ng Cabuyao [University of Cabuyao] is now an English-speaking campus starting February 3, 2025,” the university stated.
“This policy applies to students, faculty, staff, and all university personnel to cultivate a strong English-speaking environment,” it added.
Article continues after this advertisementThe administration urged full compliance, emphasizing that strict adherence to the policy is expected.
Article continues after this advertisementThe announcement quickly gained traction, amassing over 33,000 laugh reactions on social media as of writing.
Many social media users criticized the policy in the post’s comment section, with some calling it “paurong” or regressive.
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“We should first strengthen the students’ understanding of the Filipino language to clarify communication for everyone,” Marcuz Red Tevez, an education student majoring in Filipino, said in the national language.
Tevez further argued that struggling with one’s native language undermines, rather than enhances, global competitiveness.
His comment has received around 1,300 likes, hear,t and care reactions combined.
READ: UP professor: Mother tongue program more conducive to learning, should not be scrapped
University of the Philippines Assistant Professor Jose Monfred Sy also criticized the policy, highlighting the importance of using the mother tongue in education.
“There have been many studies from various countries proving the effectiveness of using the national and mother tongue languages in education,” Sy commented in Filipino.
He further questioned the university’s decision to prioritize English over linguistic research findings.
“Instead of following the advice of sociolinguists and other experts, they are bowing to countries like the United States — whose people, ironically, use their language” he added.
