(AUG 2, 2025) A volunteer place a drop box on the foot of the Oblation statues as they encourage examinees to donate the pencils they used during the University of the Philippines College Admission Test (UPCAT) at the UP Diliman campus in Quezon City on Saturday. Rather than breaking the pencil in half and placing it on the foot of the Oblation statue as superstitious belief to pass the UPCAT, various organizations will give the collected pencils to elementary and high school students in need. (PHOTO BY MIGUEL DE GUZMAN)

By Almira Louise S. Martinez, Reporter

The University of the Philippines (UP) expressed the “gravest concern” over allegations of corruption in flood control projects in the country.

This comes as students on Friday staged a university-wide walkout as part of the Black Friday Protest at the UP Diliman campus to protest “rampant corruption” and to demand accountability from the Marcos administration.

“We cannot stay neutral. We support and encourage the expression of general outrage of our citizens in accordance with the constitutionally guaranteed rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression,” UP President Angelo A. Jimenez said in a statement.

To address the “real problems” of Filipinos, Mr. Jimenez underscored the need to harness education and training.

“As the University of the People, it is our overarching moral responsibility,” he said.

Mr. Jimenez said UP will continue to safeguard the integrity of its own procurement processes.

“We shall employ all legal means to ensure full accountability, in fulfillment of our continuing duty to serve the Filipino people. Furthermore, we support the advocacy for fiscal governance reforms and greater transparency in the public sector to improve the delivery of services to our people,” he said.

The Black Friday Protest was also supported by UP Diliman Chancellor Edgardo L. Vistan II, according to a Facebook post by the UPD University Student Council (USC).

The USC said the protest aims to demand accountability from the Marcos administration amid the investigation into corruption in flood control projects.

The USC also called for a higher budget for the university, which was only given a P25.82-billion budget under the proposed 2026 National Expenditure Plan. The UP Board of Regents had earlier proposed a P46.85 billion budget.

“These budget gaps between our budget request and the state’s proposal cripple our capacity to provide quality education, research, and public service,” the UPD student council said in a statement.

The student publication Philippine Collegian, in a separate post, noted that deans from colleges of Arts and Letters, Social Work and Community Development, Fine Arts, Science, Asian Institute of Tourism, Media and Communication, and Home Economics have issued similar endorsements for the walkout.