QUEZON CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Quezon City) – Students and graduates of the University of the Philippines are called “Iskolar ng Bayan” (Nation’s Scholar) for a reason, or two.

The first reason is obvious. Their education at the state-funded institution is paid for by Filipino taxpayers.

The second is less obvious, but equally concerning. U.P. is turning out to be a factory of Latin honors!

For the year 2023 alone, 2,243 out of 3,359 graduates have been bestowed with cum, magna and summa cum laude honors — that’s a whopping 67%!

This concerns Professor Clarity Carlos, herself a graduate of U.P. She says, “When most everyone graduates with LAUDES, the word “distinguished” loses potency.”

Many are asking how distinguished the Iskolar ng Bayan are. Let’s look at U.P.’s world and Asian rankings:

So let’s state the obvious: U.P. may be a factory of scholars, but is it a factory that is producing substandard goods?

We rest our case.