Graduates

The sunflowers are out again in UP Diliman – tall, proud and blooming – and students dressed to the nines, wearing their heels or leather shoes, and donning their trademark maroon sablays, are posing by the flower-lined avenue for posterity.

It is graduation season once again and every year, ahead of the marching songs, the flowers appear in full bloom, signalling the start of this milestone.

Rain or shine, the students will march to get their diplomas and after the festivities, walk toward the rest of their lives.

But what’s in store for our graduates after the ceremony?

Each year, over half a million young Filipinos graduate from college, hearts brimming with hope.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to land a job in the Philippines, especially for fresh graduates and it’s getting more difficult every year. It doesn’t matter whether you graduated with honors or just winged it through college.

Backer

And yet it’s not just that. Here in the Philippines, the stark inequality hits graduates as soon as they start looking for jobs.

In many cases, dream jobs are reserved for those with a “backer” – a padrino to endorse their résumés. Those with the right contacts, or whose parents know the right people, can skip ahead in the long queue.

A young boy’s story

Let me tell you the story of a young boy whose childhood dream is to serve his country by joining the police force.

All he ever wanted was to be a policeman. When he was young, he imagined he would protect his country and his fellowmen by going after the bad guys.

He would be a good cop and serve his duty with honor and dignity.

His mother, a single parent, could only afford to get him through high school. I told his mother that there are state universities out there where she can send her son. She could not afford the lodging and the allowance, she told me.

So I helped her. What better way to really make a difference than to help send somebody to school? As a graduate of a state university, I also felt it was one way I could pay it forward.

The boy graduated last year with a degree in Criminology. He also passed the Criminology Licensure Exam and wow, were we so proud – his mother and I.

Unfortunately, a year later, he still could not find a job in the Philippine National Police. He can’t even get a foot in the door.

Will he get that chance – or are such dreams only for those with connections?

But the young boy isn’t giving up. He continues to wait for an opportunity to serve in the police force.

How about this year’s graduates? Will they be able to get jobs? Can the market absorb them?

Clearly, there aren’t enough jobs available so fresh grads need all the help they can get. Their parents can’t be blamed for resorting to backers or name dropping people in power.

The STAR recently reported that the country’s unemployment rate increased in April, while job quality worsened, per the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Preliminary results of the PSA’s Labor Force Survey showed unemployment at 4.1 percent in April, up from 3.9 percent in March.

That’s 2.06 million jobless Filipinos – 129,000 still waiting on job applications and 42,000 waiting to be rehired. (The STAR, June 7, 2025).

The numbers paint a sobering picture.

But it’s not just the lack of jobs or the lack of equal opportunities for fresh grads that make unemployment difficult.

We all know the problems in basic education – which determine the kind of students we have in the future.

The curriculum is often outdated, no thanks to lack of funding for research and lack of training for teachers. The classrooms are dilapidated if they even exist. The reason for this? Politicians who corrupt taxpayers’ money meant for education.

Geez. There really should be a special place in hell for people who corrupt the budget meant for education.

There are many other reasons. The list can go on and on but for the sake of our graduates, we must keep hope alive.

The Marcos administration must overhaul the education system. It must also make job creation a priority.

Hopefully, our graduates can all find the job they dreamed of, the kind that will help them reach their full potential while serving our country well.

Like the sunflowers turning toward the sun, may they rise and face the brightest future ahead.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.