[ad_1]
This March 1, 2019 photo shows UP Oblation with the new fountain in Diliman, Quezon City.
RESEARCH PHOTO / LYN RILLON
MANILA, Philippines – A professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) has responded to groups supporting President Rodrigo Duterte who were not allowed to protest inside the Diliman campus, saying that they really should be banned if they go against ideals in which the university believes.
According to sociology professor Gerardo Lanuza, PhD., Duterte supporters who were prevented from entering campus on Thursday cannot claim self-expression when they have labeled and attacked UP activists and their tradition of radicalism.
“Let’s be clear, would we allow people who adore Duterte to advertise on campus? No! They cannot invoke the right to express themselves and to speak! They are red-tagging and attacking UP activists and their radical tradition, ”he said in a Facebook post Thursday, just after the Liga Independencia Pilipinas group was prevented from entering the UP-Diliman gates.
“Do you think you have the right to step on the spaces of the UP campus? Make your demonstration outside but not inside the UP facilities, because UP means anti-fascism.” Allowing Duterte fans to do activities on campus is suicide for UP! ” he exclaimed.
The Pilipinas Independence League criticized the UP administration on Thursday for not allowing them to protest inside the UP-Diliman campus, as they were relegated only to the CP García Avenue side. They claimed that the university, a publicly funded school, they noted, favors militant groups.
Pep Goita, the group’s general secretary, said they were not informed that they needed to obtain a permit just to run a peaceful program at UP Diliman.
But Lanuza told INQUIRER.net in a separate message that all groups that run programs, whether left-wing or right-wing, must obtain permissions from UP administration, which means that groups cannot just barge in and demand that they be able to organize protests.
“Everyone is saying goodbye, rightist or leftist,” he said.
Lanuza’s claim coincides with the recent statement by UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, who said that the campus “is not a place for intolerance, bigotry and the red label,” but rather a “safe haven for speech. civilized and intelligent “.
READ: ‘There is no place for intolerance, bigotry, red label on UP’, says chancellor
The Pilipinas Independence League was protesting the students’ proposals to hold an academic strike, where students and teachers would stop carrying out school activities as a form of protest against the government.
READ: Pro-Duterte camp criticizes UP for banning their protest on campus, asks why activists allowed it
Students and faculty members have criticized the government’s alleged incompetence in its response to various calamities caused by the recent typhoons, saying it is late and late.
In just one month, eight typhoons entered the Philippine area of responsibility, several of which, such as Super Typhoon Rolly and Typhoon Ulysses, caused massive damage and immense flooding in Luzon. Still, the government denies that they have been caught off guard in the preparations for impending disasters.
READ: Government executive denies being caught flat-footed in Ulysses preparations, blames Filipinos
The group that organized a candle-lighting activity on the outskirts of UP-Diliman on Thursday is one of the groups supporting the Duterte administration and among the organizations that condemn left-wing organizations for allegedly recruiting students for the armed communist movement. .
But Lanuza clarified that UP is not just about communism, because as an educational institution, they promote thought and the expression of beliefs, as long as they are in line with truth and science.
“You can’t do anything if your children become critical of the government. Because the goal of education is to dispel lies such as beliefs that Duterte is the best president, that Marcos is the example of Duterte, that gasoline can remove COVID-19, that the virus can be shot to death, that God is stupid “, said. .
“Is that what you want your children to learn? So, of course, teach your kids. And they would surely leave you, because children are not stupid. They would seek the truth, “he added.
Students at the Ateneo de Manila recently raised the idea of an academic strike, but Duterte in his speech on Tuesday wrongly attributed the academic strike calls to the UP.
READ: Attendees will vote for a massive student strike petition against government ‘negligence’
READ: Duterte’s ‘underfunding’ threat at UP clarified
RELATED VIDEO
Read next
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer and more than 70 other titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download from 4am and share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
[ad_2]
