MANILA, Philippines — Students and student organizations at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) are questioning the university’s decision to confer an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying the administration did not consult the university community before granting the recognition.
The PLM Supreme Student Council and 33 other student councils and organizations said the decision could be viewed as an endorsement of Marcos’ administration, which they said faces questions involving transparency, accountability, human rights and public service.
Marcos received the honorary degree during PLM’s graduation rites on Aug. 27. The university cited his support for PLM, including the construction of the Medicine and Allied Health Sciences Building through the conversion and retrofitting of the former Ospital ng Maynila facility.
PLM Board of Regents chair Edward Serapio defended the decision, saying the university conferred the honor to recognize Marcos’ support for education and the construction of the facility.
“I stand by the principle that the honor was conferred in grateful recognition of the President’s support for education and for the construction of the PLM Medicine and Allied Sciences Building,” Serapio said.
The students also questioned the decision in light of PLM’s history during martial law under Marcos’ father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
They invoked the memory of Liliosa Hilao, a PLM communication arts student and campus journalist who died in detention in 1973 after authorities arrested her during martial law. The students said her case and the experiences of other victims should remain part of the university’s institutional memory.
“Her story, together with the lives of countless others who suffered, were silenced, and were taken during that dark chapter of our history, must never be forgotten or erased,” the student groups said.
The PLM College of Law Student Council separately called for clarification on the process used to confer the honorary degree, saying the university must preserve public trust and the credibility of the distinctions it awards.
The council also asked whether the PLM Board of Regents and the Legal Education Board determined that Marcos met the educational qualification under LEB Memorandum Order No. 033, series of 2025.
The memorandum states that an honorary degree recipient must have at least a baccalaureate degree or its equivalent from a reputable institution. It does not require the recipient to be a lawyer or law graduate.
Marcos has said he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford. Oxford has confirmed that he did not complete the degree and instead received a Special Diploma in Social Studies in 1978.
Marcos also enrolled in an MBA program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1979 but did not complete the program after he became vice governor of Ilocos Norte in 1980.
He also disclosed in 2023 that he did not complete a special diploma course in economics at the University of Asia and the Pacific.
The PLM College of Law Student Council said its inquiry was intended to clarify the standards and institutional procedures governing honorary degrees rather than prejudge the validity of Marcos’ recognition.
The student groups said the university should consider concerns from its community before conferring distinctions that carry academic and institutional significance.
