What is International State College of the Philippines and why is it trending?

August 8, 2022 - 2:05 PM
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A representation of ISCP. (Photos from Keen Mayormita/Facebook, ISCP Spokesperson/Facebook, and International State College of the Philippines/Facebook. Artwork by Interaksyon/James Patrick Cruz)

Social media users are falling for a satirical university for its online materials that made it look like a legitimate academic institution.

The satire-meme page called the International State College of the Philippines (ISCP) recently trended on Twitter and Facebook for its witty course offerings and announcements that use a similar layout as the ones being posted by registered schools.

TV host Kim Atienza, also known as Kuya Kim, was among those who got tricked into thinking the ISCP was a real academic institution.

He previously called it out on Facebook for its post that greeted him as its supposed new dean.

“Let us welcome our new Dean in College of Education, Prof. Kim Atienza,” the ISCP said.

Atienza then responded and said:

“This is a scam. I am not in anyway connected to this university if ever there is one. Be careful FB fam,” he wrote.

Some online users corrected the TV personality and said that the university does not exist. The viral exchange appear below:

“That’s satirical po,” a Facebook user said.

“Are you sure? They are taking in enrolment online,” Atienza responded.

“That school/university does not exist po. That page was created for fun lang po,” the user replied.

Atienza later deleted his original post and shared a new one where he acknowledged his mistake.

He also rode the ISCP’s antics as the supposedly new dean of its “college of education.”

“If you can’t beat them, join them. Thank you for the honor. Langya kayo you got me. Congrats on the page. Kelan face to face, I want to meet my students,” Atienza reacted.

Atienza was not the lone victim. Other social media users also shared their experiences of getting fooled by the fictional university.

The satire  

The ISCP, meanwhile, has no letup with its gimmick. It launched an official logo, a school website, a youth council called “Supreme E-Youth Government” and a made-up “entrance test” for students.

ISCP’s website can be accessed on this link: Home (iscphilippines.com).

It contained almost all the information and details that can be found in a legitimate educational institution—a school hymn, a “mission and vision,” course offerings and entrance exam passers.

It should be noted that all these materials are part of the ISCP’s gimmick and therefore, are fake and non-existent.

According to its Facebook profile, the ISCP page was only created on July 31, 2022.

Praises to the people behind it

The ISCP’s popularity soon reached Twitter and Reddit over the weekend.

As of writing, the keyword “ISCP” has over 23,600 tweets under its belt.

Several online users had a field day changing their display photos on Facebook with an ISCP frame to introduce themselves as part of its community called “ISCP-anian.”

Other users, meanwhile, praised the people behind the ISCP for their creativity and wit.

“Medyo serious post lang. Pero seeing the posts regarding ISCP, made me realize na we have a lot of potential talaga noh? Grabe ang efforts and quality and that’s what makes it funnier. Winner ang pubmat at layout kaya akala ko nung una legit school siya hahahaha,” one Reddit user said.

Some even juxtaposed these materials to the ones being posted by registered and legitimate universities and colleges.

“I know ISCP is a satire university, but omg, the amount of effort and skill for all the pubs and videos?! They look so much more legit than the ones published by legit unis HAHAHA, IT SHOWS HOW YOUNG FILIPINOS ARE REALLY SO GOOD WITH THEIR CRAFTS!” one user said.

“HOY ANG GANDA NG WEBSITE NG ISCP?! THEY LOOK SO LEGIT, AND TBH MAS MAGANDA PA ‘TO SA WEBSITE NG IBANG LEGIT UNIVS. They even have a section for COVID, with real-time number of cases, recovered, and deaths,” another user tweeted.

A Facebook user later shared photos and a video that showed his vision on what the ISCP campus might look like in real life.

These were uploaded to a public group page about the school called “International State College of the Philippines (E-Youth Council).”

Video creator Niño Ged said that as of writing there are only two related ISCP pages and a Discord channel.