‘Balik Sinta’: Marching back to our beloved school

Sept. 15, 2022: It was supposed to be an unforgettable date for graduating students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), and an emotional moment for all. However, marching virtually and looking for my name like a movie’s end credits through the screen of my laptop was not the college graduation I had envisioned. While I donned a black toga, sang the school hymn, and took tons of photos with my friends, it felt empty.

I did not get to fully look at my parents with pride as I received my diploma onstage, or hug my dearest friends for one last time before we went on to the next stage in our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic stole a lot from us—those final years in college in particular. Instead, the last two years were spent in the confines of our homes and within the frames of our computer monitors.

While the lockdown was necessary, the repetitive schedule, personal issues, and monotonous environment turned our worlds gray, giving us a bleak future to behold.

New tradition

So, what transpired on Oct. 10, 2022, was quite historic for a lot of PUPians like me. It wove for us a whole new tradition to remember and celebrate as we finally emerged from our closed confines and saw for the first time in a long time our school friends and many other people who held space in our hearts.

The university launched for the first time “Balik Sinta”—a campaign for the safe resumption of classes in PUP, a welcome party for new PUPians, and a homecoming of sorts for its students and alumni. It was both simple and grand, held in the University Avenue, known as the catwalk for elder batches of PUPians, with numerous tents housing different academic and advocacy organizations. There were games and photo booths everywhere, while the main stage hosted performers all throughout the day.

There were drag shows, song and dance numbers, runway shows, and speeches from student leaders eager to welcome everyone to our beloved school grounds.

Diverse crowd

I did not get the chance to attend the inaugural Balik Sinta myself as I had already found work by then, but seeing via social media that our Iskolar ng Bayan are enjoying the campus life once again gave me a sense of optimism that, soon, life will go back to how it once was. On its third year, more students joined Balik Sinta to mark the opening of Academic Year 2024-2025.

The event, held at the PUP Oval on Sept. 16, also coincided with the university’s 120th yearlong founding anniversary celebrations, drawing a diverse crowd of artists, advocates from sociopolitical organizations, and sponsors. Rya Allen Condolor, a first-year environmental planning student, used Balik Sinta as an opportunity to familiarize himself with his campus. “It’s important for us to know the layout of the campus, especially since we’ll be here for a long time.

As students, we need to know where to hang out during vacant hours and where the cooler spots are on campus,” he said.

Top university

Before the event’s official start, students flooded the campus, marching from various parts of the university toward the Oval. Clad in colored shirts representing their respective colleges, they chanted slogans and rallied around calls for increased funding, specifically asking for a higher budget to support the institution.

With the school admitting at least 12,000 students annually, the current approved budget amounting to P3.39 billion is eight billion less than the P11.88 billion the school had requested for its needs. Despite these financial constraints, PUP remains one of the top performing schools in the Philippines, ranking Top 2 among state universities and colleges and Top 7 in the entire country, according to the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings in Asia for 2024. Its graduates were also the “most preferred” by employers, according to a 2023 JobStreet Philippines survey. PUP graduates are present in almost every industry, especially in Business and Finance, Office Administration, Computing and Mathematics, Architecture and Engineering, and Education and Library Sciences.

In licensure exams performance, PUP is considered one of the country’s top universities, having produced 82 top notchers in the past four years, particularly in the fields of accountancy, architecture, chemistry, engineering, environmental planning, guidance and counseling, human resource, interior design, law, library sciences, nutrition and dietetics, psychology, psychometry, and tax technicians.

The most recent example is Hazel Ann C. Sera, who topped the May 2024 Licensure Examinations for Certified Public Accountants.

Social awareness

While Balik Sinta is often seen as a festive way to welcome first year students, it also serves as a vital platform for raising social awareness. Kriselda Quilloy, president of PUP Icons, the university’s modeling and advertising organization, emphasized the importance of Balik Sinta for student expression and urged her fellow students to participate in it. “Bigyan mo ng kahalagahan ang lahat ng mga nangyayari, makiisa ka sa mga programa, makiisa ka sa mga events na nagbibigay ng pagpapahalaga sa mga karapatan ng bawat isa (Value everything that happens and join programs that highlight the rights of everyone),” she said.