KABATAAN Party-list Representative Atty. Renee Louise Co said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s veto of the controversial National Polytechnic University (NPU) Bill is not an act of benevolence but a hard-won victory by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) community against what she described as an attempted corporate rebranding of the country’s largest state university.

“The Marcos Jr. administration thought they could sneak this deceptive corporate rebrand past the Filipino people, but the PUP community stood firm and exposed this bill for what it truly is — a tool for privatization and commercialization of our public universities,” Co said.

“This veto is not his generosity — it is a victory we seized through years of relentless struggle,” she added.

The now-vetoed NPU Bill had faced growing criticism from student leaders and progressive groups, who warned that the proposed changes to the PUP Charter would pave the way for private sector involvement and weaken public control and funding, all under the guise of upgrading university standards.

While President Marcos cited the need for PUP to first meet the standards of globally competitive universities before earning national university status, Co argued that the real motivation behind the veto may be more political than principled.

“His veto, at worst, could also be a signal for PUP administrators to back his political agenda in exchange for higher funding and other favors,” she warned. “The fight is far from over.”

Co stressed that the battle should now focus on blocking any future attempts to revive what she called the “Neglect and Privatization of Universities Bill” in the next Congress.

She also called for a shift in government priorities from market-driven reforms to genuine public investment in education.

“Instead of forcing PUP to meet arbitrary qualifications for national university status, Marcos Jr. should guarantee adequate funding and support for our public universities,” Co said.

The lawmaker also reiterated that quality education stems from robust state support, not from chasing international rankings or operating universities like businesses.

“Real quality education comes from full state support, not from forcing our public institutions to chase rankings and quotas and operate like profit-driven corporations,” she asserted. “We must fight for patriotic, scientific, and mass-oriented education — and it must begin in our public schools and universities.”

Kabataan Partylist has long campaigned against privatization efforts in public education, and Co’s latest statement reaffirms the group’s commitment to defending PUP’s public and democratic character.