The struggle is real for Filipino students. Many are pressured to please demanding teachers on top of every day obstacles like waking up early to beat traffic and braving floods during the rainy season just to get to school.
This struggle was hilariously depicted in a new satirical short film by SAWAKAS that has gone viral since it was posted on Facebook on Wednesday.
Titled KPL (Kung Pwede Lang or If Only), the 4-minute video starts with a student standing, head down, while her teacher reprimands her for not doing her homework.
“That’s what I was saying. So what, you weren’t able to do it? It’s so simple! What now, you can’t answer? Answer!” the teacher shouts out of frame.
The student, who has kept her head down the whole time then reacts and shouts: “Here, I’m gonna answer. F*ck. You’re really provoking aren’t, you ma’am? Here you go!”
She then goes on a full-on raging rant, listing down reasons why she was not able to do her assignment.
“What do you think ma’am, that we’re still thinking about you after class? You want us to still be students when we get home? Can’t I be a big sister? Can’t I be a daughter? A sister? When I get home, I will [need to] take care of my sibling. I will cook rice, prepare dinner, wash dishes, clean the house, only after can I do my assignment.”
The video also touches on how some public school teachers in the Philippines make money off their students by charging extra for photocopies and selling products from catalogs like Avon — both inappropriate but very common.
The student’s reasons get more and more exaggerated as the film progresses and at one point she says: “I’m not a machine!”
Truer words have not been said.
Such a bold statement, of course, sparked mixed reactions from netizens.
“I don’t know why others are calling this video BIAS[ed]. To be honest I find this really funny, yet it mirrors the real situation of every student (mostly college student[s]) nowadays,” Facebook user Gregern Paul Borja Esteban said.
“The release of this [film] is very brave. Despite the sensitivity, [I] still find the message clear. This is for all the harsh educators out there who torture students. The only goal of this film is to express the side of the students. Nothing more, nothing less. This is reality, the education system in the Philippines is not healthy anymore,” Erol Mondragon said in English and Filipino.
Mira Abad said that there really are some public school teachers who will only give students high grades if they buy items they are selling.
“There really are teachers who will only let you pass their classes if you buy longanisa, tocino, yema, watermelon seeds, or champoy from them. Once you’re a regular and you spend all your allowance on their products, you’ll be an honor student,” she said.
Issa Yum, who said she’s a teacher, said the film depicts reality.
“This also shows the side of the students who may truly have many reasons on why they were not able to comply with requirements due to family situation, financial status, emotional and psychological conditions, and as well as the environment and community,” she said.
However, many also think the video was insulting to teachers, many of whom they say just want to be proper educators.
“The idea presented was well presented according to the director but degrading on the part of teachers….saddening enough that educators are perceived this way without you knowing [about] our sacrifices,” Reah Seminano said.
“We do hope in our hearts that there are still those pupils or students who see us as their molders and future builders.”
Cher Jonski wrote: “What a degrading film for the teachers.. Those teachers who spend most of their time to teach you, those teachers who received TONS OF WORK more than money.. Techers (sic) who ARE TEACHERS IN AND OUT OF SCHOOL.”
Kenneth De la Cruz said he usually likes SAWAKAS’ films but did not care for this one.
“I like all their films except this one. Use of foul words – forgivable, sentiments of students – understandable, content- unacceptable,” he said.
“I watched the film til the end and it shows ‘if only I can answer back to abusive teachers’, but this encourage (sic) the students to complain rather than see the good side of pressure/hardships on students (sic) life.”
The video had 11 million views, close to 250,000 reactions and almost 350,000 shares as of this article’s posting.
What do you think of the film? Is this message on point or does it miss the mark? Let us know in the comments section below or tweet us @CoconutsManila.
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