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.

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’s comment section, with some calling it “paurong” or regressive.

READ: English ‘pa more,’ the ‘betterer’?

“Pag-igihan muna sana natin ang paghasa sa mga mag-aaral at bawat kabataan na matutuhang maintindihan ang wikang Filipino para sa gano’n ay maging malinaw ang komunikasyon sa bawat isa,” said Marcuz Red Tevez, an Education student majoring in Filipino.

(We should first strengthen the students’ understanding of the Filipino language to clarify communication for everyone.)

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.

That lack of recognition and acknowledgment by our own is why the young Manrique decided to pivot a little and create the brand Finebone. Finebone is the sophisticated and easily identifiable face of CSM, which Clemente had been content to operate behind much bigger vendors while he was alive. Where CSM had simply manufactured pieces for others (which it still does, managed by Enrico’s sister Erika), Finebone directly sells some of the factory’s creations as its own.

“Napakarami nang pag-aaral mula sa samu’t saring bayan hinggil sa bisa ng paggamit ng wikang pambansa at mga inang wika sa edukasyon,” Sy commented.

(There have been countless studies from various countries proving the effectiveness of using the national and mother tongue languages in education.)

He further questioned the university’s decision to prioritize English over linguistic research findings.

“Pero kaysa sundan ang payo ng mga sosyolinggwist at iba pang eksperto, yuyukod na lang sa mga bansa tulad ng Estados Unidos (na gumagamit naman ng sarili nilang wika),” he added.

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(Instead of following the advice of sociolinguists and other experts747 live, they are bowing to countries like the United States—whose people, ironically, use their language.)