More than 100 students from the Philippine Normal University along with students from the One Taft alliance held a protest to condemn the recently launched KaPeaceTahan at PNU: Student Peace Summit in the university today, September 24.
“We were completely unaware of the program’s flow until last night. In fact, it wasn’t communicated to the entire PNU community,” said Francesca Venisse Mayorga, a councilor of the PNU Central Student Council.
Mayorga, who is taking up Values Education at the university, said her class was required to attend the summit. Around 150 to 200 students from the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences were invited to the event.
“Even in the student council, we weren’t informed about this event prior to its launch, especially since they invited these military personnel to speak. The bureaucratic process to get approval for an event like this is usually very lengthy, so it’s suspicious that a program like this with such guests came about and was only communicated to us last night. There was no formal posting, and only a few professors shared it. It’s questionable that such a program was kept hidden,” Mayorga added.
Red-tagging
The peace summit had two parts. The first part was a symposium on peace where two retired major generals, Edgardo De Leon and Francisco Ariel Felicidario III, served as resource speakers.
De Leon discussed the dynamics of the CPP-NPA-NDF, while Felicidario spoke on National Peace Engagement.
“In the discussions, this retired general De Leon said that peace couldn’t be fully achieved because of such hatred towards the government is festering. They also said that agitation and the study of social issues and rural concerns at the university are part of the propaganda of CPP-NPA,” Mayorga shared.
De Leon is notorious in his statement regarding red-tagging, claiming that the Armed Forces of the Philippines do not engage in it and that the term ‘red-tagging’ is merely concocted with no clear origin.
“This is ironic because we continue to experience red-tagging. Their simple threats to schools, warning students not to join mass organizations, like what they did earlier, are a manifestation of red-tagging. During protests held here in NCR, there are many police officers conducting surveillance, especially at PNU. This makes us feel like we’re being marked every time we exercise our right to free expression,” said Mayorga.
According to Mayorga, since the university resumed physical classes, the presence of police around PNU has noticeably increased.
“The military would often come to ask questions, such as when the school year starts or where the office of the official student publication is,” Mayorga added.
Earlier this month, on July 1, The Torch Publication of PNU reported that police had requested information on the university’s student population, stating that the Philippine National Police (PNP) had been tasked with gathering the total number of students at each university in Manila.
This situation aligns with reports of military deployments in the National Capital Region, particularly in Manila, where the 11th and 12th Civil Military Operations (CMO) have presence since March 2023.
The 12th CMO, originating from Lanao del Sur, has four battalions stationed in Sta. Mesa, Ermita, Sta. Cruz, and Tondo. PNU is one of the central universities along Taft Avenue, falling within the Ermita area.
One-Taft: Importance of forging alliance
According to Mayorga, building alliances with the youth sector, teachers, and other stakeholders of universities is vital. She said that unity is key to collective action in condemning these forms or tactics at suppressing legal dissent and academic freedom.
PNU is part of the One Taft alliance, which also includes various universities along Taft Avenue.
According to the alliance, they have also monitored similar peace summits set to be launched at St. Paul University – Manila and the Philippine Women’s University, where a book launching event and forum featuring military guests will reportedly take place.
“We condemn the presence of the military and police in universities because they have no place in the academic spaces of students. We also call for the defense of academic freedom for students at PNU and other universities experiencing these state tactics aimed at suppressing youth activism,” Mayorga said.
