Photo from Cabuyao City Mayor Dennis Felipe 鈥楧enHa鈥� Hain/FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� 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.
鈥淚n 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,鈥� the university stated.
鈥淭his policy applies to students, faculty, staff, and all university personnel to cultivate a strong English-speaking environment,鈥� it added.
The administration urged full compliance, emphasizing that strict adherence to the policy is expected.
The 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鈥檚 comment section, with some calling it 鈥減aurong鈥� or regressive.
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鈥淲e should first strengthen the students鈥� understanding of the Filipino language to clarify communication for everyone,鈥� Marcuz Red Tevez, an education student majoring in Filipino, said in the national language.
Tevez further argued that struggling with one鈥檚 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.
鈥淭here have been many studies from various countries proving the effectiveness of using the national and mother tongue languages in education,鈥� Sy commented in Filipino.
He further questioned the university鈥檚 decision to prioritize English over linguistic research findings.
鈥淚nstead of following the advice of sociolinguists and other experts, they are bowing to countries like the United States 鈥� whose people, ironically, use their language鈥� he added.