The University of the Philippines Visayas graduation ceremony was marked by a protest action initiated by graduating student leaders and joined by Kabataan Partylist-Panay and other militant youth groups.

Their message to the new batch of UPV graduates: use your skills, intelligence, and talents to serve the people.

The protesting students unfurled streamers and placards during the singing of the university hymn which marked the conclusion of the graduation rites. This year's ceremonies were held at the UPV Miagao campus last April 25, 2012.

Kabataan Partylist-Panay Regional Coordinator Karlo Mikhail Mongaya, also a UP graduate, said that the education received from the university is useless if it only serves self-advancement or the interests of oppressors or the ruling elites.

"What does it mean to serve the people? In the context of an oppressive social system, it means serving the oppressed, marginalized, and voiceless sectors – the peasants, the workers, the urban poor, etc.," said Mongaya.

UPV College of Management Student Council Chair and B.S. Accountancy graduate Eloisa Fe Lusotan said that this means applying education in upholding social justice and expending energies in the pursuit of the highest ideals.

"Being at the prime of our physical condition and possessing a strong sense of justice, optimism, creativity, idealism, and openness to new ideas, we the youth are the most ready to contribute meaningfully for a better world," added Mongaya.

The student leaders warned against the temptation to simply pursue profit and career advancement at the expense of the larger community and the nation.

"Let us all work hand in hand and prove that we are indeed the hope of our motherland," said UPV School of Technology-SC Chair and B.S. Food Technology graduate Shelyn Mae Bajala.

Kabataan Partylist-Panay urged the new graduates to return the education that UP as a public service institution imparted to them back to the people.

"We militantly defended our premier state university from devious attempts by the Noynoy Aquino to privatize UP through massive budget cuts. Let us continue this tradition of serving the marginalized and oppressed masses as we leave the university," said Mongaya.

UPV University Student Council Chair and B.A. Political Science graduate Christian Sorongon said that "to serve the nation is the greatest gift and reward." Sorongon is also a young councillor in the Municipality of New Lucena, Iloilo.*