COC Freshmen Fest 2025 welcomes over 700 students with music and advocacy
- The Communicator
- Sep 22
- 6 min read
With over 700 freshmen in attendance, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines College of Communication (PUP COC) marked the start of the academic year through the COC Freshmen Fest 2025, held last September 6 at the PUP Bulwagang Balagtas with a vibrant music and voice of advocacy.

With the theme “Advancing the New Wave of Communicators,” the event combined the energy of a music festival and the conviction of solidarity bringing together students from the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (BAJ), Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting (BABR), Bachelor in Advertising and Public Relations (BAPR), and Bachelor of Arts in Communication Research (BACR), who filled the venue with cheers, chants, and excitement.
As early as 9 in the morning, freshies gathered at the COC building before the kickstart of the program. Students huddled together while lining up for registration, exchanging their chatterings of introductions, snapping selfies, and laughter, filling the event with their excitement.
Opening the program, COCians from different departments battled with their loudest chants and cheers. The event kickstarted with the performances from Move to the Groove and Movers and Motion, electrifying the whole welcoming event with their upbeat choreography. Adding to the spiked up energy were the thrilling stunts and performance by the college’s own COC Cheering Squad.
The lively atmosphere in the carpark set the tone for the rest of the day, with students feeding off each other’s excitement and creating a sense of unity from the get-go.
From the small kickstart program, the crowd transitioned into the Freshie Walk from the COC Building to Bulwagang Balagtas. The short march turned into a colorful parade of chants, banners, and block cheers along Anonas Street.
A festive welcome
Arriving at the Bulwagang Balagtas, the event shifted into what felt like a hybrid of a concert and a campus fair. The venue brimmed with anticipation as freshies filled every row, waving banners, chanting with their blockmates, and capturing moments on their phones. Hosts Kat Lazarra and Yanih Barreto kept the atmosphere alive, filling pauses between sets with jokes, playful commentary, and interactive spiels that made the audience feel part of the show.
To formally welcome the freshman students, Overall Project Head and PUP-COC Student Council Vice President Deniel Tolentino encouraged them to explore and join the many organizations within the college.
Tolentino also reminded the students of their responsibility as future communicators.
“Ngayon ang simula niyo [freshies] bilang kabataang alagaad ng midya. Sana gamitin natin ang karunungan natin upang ipagsilbi ang mga sarili natin para sa sambayanang Pilipino. Tayong mga kabataang alagad ng midya, lumabas tayo sa silid aralan natin at tumungo doon sa mga lansangan, sa mga komunidad kung nasaan ang mamamayang Pilipino na dapat ay pinaglilingkuran natin.”
Collaborative booths inside the venue added excitement to the program by offering the students free products and giveaways. In between the programs, sponsor-led games further energized the audience with their exciting prizes.
Freshmen also lined up for exciting twisted games from Viu and captured memories at their photobooth to remember the day. KFC, Infinix, and Cadbury also drew crowds with their interactive booth games, keeping students entertained in between breaks. Meanwhile, Cobra Rise Energy Drink further fueled the energy by giving out free drinks, keeping the freshies energized and refreshed throughout the event.
The program’s lineup also reflected the diversity of talent and artistry within the PUP and the COC community. Movers and Motion once again energized the whole crowd with their jawdropping dance routines. Also present at the event is the resident band of the university, PUP Polysound, who opened the stage with their own renditions of songs that brought together layered harmonies and a youthful energy that instantly lifted the hall’s mood.
Indie artist Carl Timbol followed with a more intimate set, leaning on yearning and harana-inspired tunes that brought kilig to the audience. His heartfelt songs—both original and familiar covers—stood out for their raw simplicity. As the lights dimmed and the crowd raised their phone flashlights, the venue transformed into a hushed gig-like atmosphere as many freshies swayed and hummed along.

The program then shifted tone with Sining na Naglilingkod sa Bayan (SINAGBAYAN), whose cultural pieces carried themes of social justice, land reform, and people’s struggles. Their performances blended theater, music, and poetry, transforming the stage into a platform for both art and advocacy. With powerful lyrics, they reminded the freshies that being a communicator is also about service and responsibility to the people.
Following the performances from different artists, student leaders from PUP Advertising and Public Relation Organization of Students (ADPROS), PUP Circle of research Enthusiasts (CORE), PUP Broadcircle, and the PUP Journalism Guild also delivered words of encouragement in between the program. COC Student Councilors also gave solidarity messages that touched on press freedom, government corruption, budget issues, and repression of campus publications.
“Sama-sama nating gamitin ang mga kamera at panulat natin upang labanan ang mga represyon, ang mga isyu na kinakaharap natin, mga alagad ng midya.” Councilor Desiree Rendon emphasized in her speech.
For freshmen, the event was more than just entertainment.
Eran Valler Maglanque, a first-year Communication Research student shared, “Sa ganitong mga event, mas nagiging active tayo. Dapat as communicator, tini-take natin lahat ng opportunity dahil palagi namang may learning sa mga ganitong events.”
Headliner performances
The latter part of the program shifted into a full concert mode, giving freshies a finale worthy of the festival’s scale. Many had been looking forward to the remaining performers since the lineup was announced days earlier, making their performances one of the most awaited highlights of the day.
Singer-songwriter Jenzen Guino, who is known for his cozy cover songs during pandemic, brought playful kilig to the stage with his original tracks and covers, igniting the crowd’s energy.
He covered One Less Lonely Girl and Biyahe, a track used for the Filipino dubbed version of the original Meteor Garden, which gave a nostalgic feeling to everyone.
Guino’s most memorable moment came when he invited two freshmen on stage to serenade them as he sang his original songs—sending the audience into a frenzy of cheers, laughter, and teasing shouts. The performance gave the program its most lighthearted and romantic highlight.
But the loudest cheers of the day were reserved for Janine Berdin. Her powerful vocals and dynamic stage presence transformed Bulwagang Balagtas into a concert arena, with hundreds of freshies singing along and waving their hands in unison.
Berdin’s duet with the crowd while singing “Mahika” brought magic to the whole venue which became the perfect transition as she covered “The Only Exception” by Paramore. Performing four songs, including her latest singles “Sitwasyonship” and “Hayup Ka,” her performance was the perfect culmination of the day—a star-studded finale that capped the freshmen fest on a euphoric note.
Fired up finale
Immediately after the program ended, the real highlight of the event unfolded as student leaders and members of various organizations staged a flash mobilization led by the Alyansa ng Kabataang Mamahayag (AKM). Carrying placards and raising their fists, they turned Bulwagang Balagtas into a space of protest and remembrance that reminded the freshies of the deeper meaning of their welcome.
In his message, AKM National Chairperson Jacob Baluyot underscored that press freedom under the Marcos Jr. administration remains “huwad na malaya,” as journalists and campus publications continue to face economic and political repression. He declared, “They may kill journalists, they may kill broadcasters and even repress campus publications, but they will never ever kill the truth. The truth that will collectively mobilize people to champion their demands for human rights, for basic education and other human rights.”
Baluyot further called on the new batch of COC students to see themselves not just as future professionals but as communicators who must wield their words and platforms in defense of the marginalized—workers, farmers, women, and youth—whose struggles are often silenced. “Ito ang tawag ng panahon sa lahat ng kabataang alagad ng midya,” he stressed, urging them to sharpen their pens and voices to add to the continuing story of the Filipino people.
The flash mobilization thus became the symbolic culmination of the freshmen fest, transforming what began as a day of music and celebration into a collective pledge that the new wave of communicators must enter the university not only with excitement, but also with awareness, militancy, and commitment to truth and service.
Article: Jane Andes
Graphics: Jan Mike Cabangin
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