The protest rally today has been the most triumphant so far. With the NAMA (National Association of Mapua Alumni) and some parents finally out on our side, our power seemed to have tremendously skyrocketed.

We now have a better sound system (bye to the dysfunctional megaphone) and a larger crowd. The NAMA had provided for that and promised to give us everything we will need in the future including the signature of their president, which is needed in getting a protest permit which was refused by our very own Central Student Council (CSC). Only a signature from a school-accredited organization is honoured in the City Hall of Manila in seeking such.

While the previous rallies only lasted for 2-4 hours or so, this one lasted for almost the whole day. And at their colleagues prodding, some professors even walked out of the school and finally spoken up. Some of them who were peeking at the empty corridors of the south building suffered from an intense mocking from the crowd.

There were those emotional moments that had really moved me, especially when a concerned mother lamented that she felt betrayed by the abrupt change and because she herself is a wife and sister to Mapuans. Some of the speakers had broken voices that you could feel the angst and their frustration toward the administration’s plan through the speaker. The crowd participation was totally overwhelming, we gamely joined in the waving and the shouting of the VIVA MAPUA! repeatedly and even sang the Alma Mater song, but with lyric copies of course.

I have never seen the Mapua students and alumni this united before and it feels so good and at home to see us fighting this battle together.

“It is not easy to build. It is always easy to destroy. To build anything the builder needs ability, courage, stamina and dedication. If he must succeed, he must have faith in God, in himself and in his co-builders.”
- the first registered Filipino Architect, Don Tomas Mapua

this undated photo shows a scene inside the Mapua Makati Campus.