WHY is Kidlat Tahimik returning his medallion of the Order of National Artists, including giving up the benefits (monthly life pension, health care, state funeral, and burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani) of the honor that the government conferred upon him in 2018?
The Baguio-based National Artist for Film reportedly did it as a protest against the College of Higher Education’s (CHED) proposed Reframed General Education Curriculum (RGEC) targeted for implementation in Academic Year 2027–2028.
The proposed measure would cut college GE units from 36 to 18, transfer several GE subjects to Senior High School, and devote more college time to specialized and practical training.
But universities, faculty groups, writers, artists and academic organizations argue that it would weaken liberal arts and humanities education; students may lose exposure to ethics, arts and global studies; and the reduction is being rushed without sufficient consultation.
The plan has since been postponed pending further review.
Kidlat — born Eric de Guia, an alumnus of the University of the Philippines Diliman and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School who worked at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris — reportedly announced “surrendering” his medallion at a recent teachers’ training session in Baguio, as documented by his godson Art Tibaldo on Facebook.
Kidlat had formally expressed his protest in a letter to CHED chairperson Shirley Agrupis.
Tibaldo furnished The Manila Times a copy of the letter, which we are publishing in full.
Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis
Chairperson, CHED
Diliman
Re: RGEC Position Paper-cum-Protest from Kidlat Tahimik
“Dear Dr. Agrupis:
“As a National Artist of the Philippines, may I add my concerned voice to the strong reactions generated by RGEC directives of CHED to reduce GE subjects from 36 units to 18. I will not engage in any of the angry arguments already thrown at your door — ranging from the fear of job losses for tertiary teachers... to the dilution of cultural awareness in college kids.
“Let me call attention to a cultural framing: that the trending in mass education is to generate new graduates to be competitive in the job markets — domestic and international. Ergo, policy is geared to distill the curricula towards achieving quantifiable competencies — arming students with easy-to-quantify skills in job fairs.
“To me, such policy moves are a regression backwards to our colonial-imposed education: Simply teach them the 3-‘R’s. Yes, the American slang for Reading, ‘Ritin n ‘Rithmetic by the good-intentioned Thomasites — for the little brown brothers in the new island possessions. The original objective of national investment in education was to free multitudes of parents to go into factories and offices — in the service of the economy. And the kids, now captive in babysitter classrooms — to be trained for next-generation skills at the assembly line. (Shades of Charlie Chaplin — remember that robot-like skilled worker in ‘Modern Times’?)
“To me, the total assimilation of Philippine education into this Thomasite philosophy was so successful, it continues today. The colonial policy had a less visible aim — by homogenizing the youth for maximizing GDP, the natives would also be easier to govern. And yes, easier to employ — by calibrating our islander kids’ brains towards ‘competitive competencies.’
“‘Competency’ is the keyword in mass education manuals today — to equip skills for learners to compete globally. This means less focus on enhancing humanistic wholeness in our youth. (That’s how econometrists and MBAs ideally frame our bagong bayani [modern-day heroes] for export.)
“There’s also today’s threat of AI — projected to do 90 percent of mankind’s thinking. This is the main force that ejects the humanities, regional languages, social ethics, cultural values, and our bayani stories — outside-d-kulambu [marginalized] of education. It’s an anti-Kultur wolf-in-sheep’s cover.
“Yes, trust the force! The educational mantra today: export more skilled Pinoys to bring back more dollars to our ailing economy. Modernization needs more bagong bayani in a global market. Ergo, it’s a waste of time for classrooms to indulge in compassionate ethics (pakikipag-kapwa), in communal inter-person relations (ginhawa), in harmony with nature (kapwa-kalikasan) and in spiritual balancing (kagandahang loob). These unquantifiables are invisible in econometrists’ balance-sheet of ‘progress.’ (Hey, how are these items given weight in Bhutan’s gross GNH? [Gross National Happiness])
‘Walang-paki’ culture
“Cardinal Ambo David did a homily on ‘walang-paki’ [unconcerned] culture, in the upper echelons (read: in the ‘educated’ class). It’s a wake-up call for our leaders whose obsession with numbers are headliners: (trillions in budget inserts, majority-of-one quorums, 2/3 impeachment targets, and, don’t forget, 18 bullet shells on the Senate floor — totally a numbers game).
“When my kids were doing math in elementary school, I remember a flagship World-Bank project called 'PRODDED' textbooks... Prodding our primary/secondary pupils towards what???
“And today, tertiary institutions are prodded to drop GE units to concentrate on 3-‘R’s skills much needed by our global AI hegemony? Western models of education-for-growth’s sake — at the expense of ginhawa ng sambayanan — are prodding these GE curriculum cuts: Ergo, from 72 units to 36 to 18 = zero, the equation for ‘progress’?
“Is this trending reversible?
“As a protest, I am surrendering my prestigious medallion of the Order of National Artists and I will forego my National Artists’ amenities (monthly stipends, health care, a privilege to be buried at Libingan ng Bayani, etc.). A sort of hunger strike. (My individual act should by no means taint the prestige of my distinguished fellow National Artists.) This is my personal gesture (in good faith) to spotlight that, somehow, our country’s ‘walang-paki’ DNA might be traceable to the 3-‘R’s-only pedagogy of our colonizers. If this elementary-level menu is today being extended to college levels, quo vadis?
“Sugod mga Kapatid!!! Bawi-in ang LIWANAG ng ating kultura’t kasaysayan sa curricula!” (Forward, brothers and sisters! Bring back the light of our culture and history to the curriculum!)
Kidlat Tahimik
(ex-National Artist, ex-MBA, ex-economist for growth)