International State College of the Philippines: A parody of PH universities

In just a few days, an up-and-coming academic institution called the International State College of the Philippines (ISCP) has gained the attention of users, especially students, and amassed followers on social media in the hundreds of thousands. If the name does not give it away, take a look at the logo and read the motto—“Satura.” You guessed it: this is not a real institution.

ISCP is a parody that pokes fun at legitimate schools and universities in the Philippines, especially on the online content and marketing strategies done by the latter to boost their enrolment numbers, advertise the courses they offer, or just promote themselves to the public.

Your typical parodies and memes online are usually low-quality content, but the folks behind ISCP have seemingly put their best efforts, which perhaps explain the huge attention garnered so far. There’s an official logo, a photo frame for users to proclaim themselves as proud “ISCPanians,” a Facebook group and page for its student council called “Supreme E-Youth Government,” and even a website. Heck, there are even virtual tour videos of the various campuses that ISCP supposedly has.

As a parody institution, ISCP should be taken lightly. But there are those who fell for the joke.

Former weather anchor Kim Atienza, for instance, cried foul over an ISCP page post that claimed he had become the new dean for ISCP’s college of education. He initially called it a scam, although he later went along with the joke upon learning ISCP was just created for fun. “If you can’t beat them, join them. Thank you for the honor,” he wrote in another post.

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As the world faces worsening conditions, we online users could certainly use a laugh or two from satirical and parody pages. For some of its content, ISCP also seem to balance its Internet humor with veiled (if not outright) criticisms of society, governance, and other issues, with emphasis on the Philippines.

But not everyone is amused by the antics of ISCP. A discussion on Reddit, for instance, feared how ISCP could be used by its creators to spread misinformation and fake news at some point. It argued that Filipinos would lean toward the manner of presentation when validating information.

The “official” Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok handle of ISCP is @ISCPhilippines. But as the whole thing has gone viral, other social media pages have also been created and appear to represent the supposed campuses of ISCP.