DOGGED PLAYBOOK

The free marketplace of ideas, bustling with progressive critique—even more so due to the dire state of the country’s affairs—is under fire once again. Continued tirades of the administration now target academic institutions all over the nation, red-tagging students of these schools in a show of cowardly desperation to crack down against dissent.

On January 15, the Department of National Defense (DND) scrapped its 1989 accord with the University of the Philippines (UP), the safe haven of activists, which barred state forces from entering its campuses. According to DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the accord was obsolete, unnecessary, and not in the best interest of students; even going so far as stating that having such a mandate was ‘special treatment’ for UP.

More than a week later, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) red-tagged 38 State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) as breeding grounds for rebels without evidence; Cagayan de Oro’s Xavier University and Mindanao State University (MSU) System Iligan and General Santos campuses included.

Though at this point, having the government’s top ranks constantly red-tag individuals and link them to the communist insurgency is short of surprising. President Duterte himself has time and time again slammed critics—evidenced in the shutdown and attacks against media giants, the overwhelming rise in cases of impunity, and the signing of the Anti- Terror Law (ATL), the latter of which prompts the administrative hand to be one finger away from pulling the trigger.

And as if to drive the point home, Duterte said in a press briefing, “[If the enemy is holding a gun], kill them. Kill them right away. Ignore human rights. That is my order.” Just two days after, nine activists were killed and six were arrested in CALABARZON police raids.

With every pronouncement made, the gun is just waiting to be pointed at anyone. But at the moment, its crosshairs align at the Filipino student. Democratic spaces continue to shrink in this regime, and with the safety of academia visibly threatened, activism and democracy are further jeopardized. The red-tagging spree on universities and abrogation of accords that safeguarded free thought only

enables oppression, militarization, and undeniably more bloodshed. It also produces a chilling effect to academic institutions nationwide, boiling down to the hampering of student activists and journalists even by their own faculty, instead of promoting critical thought and fight back against the state’s effort in exerting absolute subserviency.

Robert Roy Gallardo, previous editor-in-chief of Nudo Veritas and now studying at the University of the Philippines Cebu, had his own share of experience in Gusa Regional Science High School-X (GRSHS-X). “With the current political climate of the country, the incompetence of the Duterte administration is worth talking, and of course, dissenting. I received a “pep-talk” from a faculty member once that I should be wary of the things that I do, especially with dissenting to the current administration,” he said.

“With red-tagging present in academic grounds, it affects how students think about their political belief. […] The lack of spaces where we are open to discuss and subjects that involve politics and society are not used to their goals as the curriculum is problematic.”

Even previous Ang Sinagtala editor-in-chief Danica Armendarez, now a member of Xavier University’s Crusader Publication, experienced the same situation in GRSHS. According to her, students would get backlash when they are not on the same page when it comes to political issues with their educators, and that they red-tag by way of smart-shaming even on social media, thus making the institution a toxic and unhealthy environment for political thoughts.

With every pronouncement made, the gun is just waiting to be pointed at anyone. But at the moment, its crosshairs align at the Filipino student.

“As journalists, you don’t deserve the feeling of being limited nor the anxiety of being called out because you have published these and that. We don’t write to filter out words just to comply for the reader’s liking. We write because we unleash truth for others, and it’s never our fault (and wala jud tay control) if the truth comes ugly or not,” she added.

Stigma shrouding dissent and sound criticism against the state has existed far before Duterte’s reign; however, it has only festered in his administration. Stories like Robert’s and Danica’s are prominent not just in the student journalism circle, but also outside it where circumstances are harsher; Cagayan de Oro-based journalists have since faced abduction, harassment, and security threats—all part of vilification campaigns after being red-tagged for voicing disagreement.

Collective action is significant in order to create change. This is evident in such that the youth, ever the driving force of the country’s activism, has become passionate in upholding human rights and embodying the pleas of the marginalized; merely radicalized by the government’s shortcomings that made itself clear over the years especially during the pandemic. Let this façade of powerplay be a reminder of how desperate the state is to turn away from accountability, and instead silence the voice of Filipino youth.

This regime’s dogged playbook must be at its last chapter—protect and uphold academic freedom, hands off our students, criminalize red-tagging. With the crumbling of academic freedom and the government’s continuing tirades, a fate just as perilous awaits student activists if not acted upon soon.