Want to enroll? Cook ‘binangkal’ first
A simple inquiry about university enrollment took a deliciously unexpected turn this week when a prospective student received not the desired admissions information, but a recipe for a popular Filipino snack.
Jose Rizal University (JRU) owned up to the sweet snafu and apologized for the error.
“We have been informed of a message sent to a prospective student inquiring about enrollment, where a Binangkal recipe was unintentionally shared,” JRU said in a statement on Monday.
Flavorful detour
“While we take all inquiries seriously, we acknowledge this flavorful detour. We sincerely apologize for the confusion and hope the recipe was, at the very least, helpful,” it added.
The school concluded its apology with a playful statement directed to the student: “To that one student who got a Binangkal recipe instead of enrollment steps, might we interest you in Hospitality Management?”
The Binangkal is a traditional doughnut-like snack with dough usually made of flour, milk, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, sesame seeds, and oil. It’s a popular snack originating from Visayas and Mindanao.
‘Kindly ignore’
Based on the viral post, a supposed incoming first-year college student sent an inquiry to the official page of the JRU.
“Good evening. How to enroll? Incoming first-year college student po,” the message read.
For some reason, the university’s page replied with a full recipe of Binangkal, complete with ingredients and step-by-step instructions on how to cook it.
Catching its mistake, the school then followed its recipe reply with a message detailing the steps to take to enroll at the university, adding, “Kindly ignore the first message. Thank you!,” followed by a grimace emoji.
Netizens had a field day with the interaction, with the post reaching over 27,000 reactions and 4,000 shares as of this writing.
