This article will cover one of the most important discussions in Filipino society: public education. The Philippines has an extremely complicated history that has shaped into what the world sees as the only Southeast Asian country with declining youth literacy rates. Being the world’s 12th most populous nation worldwide and with 5 in 10 Filipino families deprived of basic education, how has falling education standards come into fruition, given the fact that surveys show that 75.3% of Filipino students love learning? It just doesn’t make sense. As I’m writing this with extreme privilege from the comforts of a Tokyo cafe with a university education, who am I to analyze and critique Filipino lives who have been robbed of an unequal opportunity?