CITY OF MALOLOS – The administration of the Bulacan State University (BulSU) has slammed its inclusion as one of the educational institutions on the Facebook post of NTF-ELCAC last January 26, 2021, accusing several colleges and universities as targets for radicalization and recruitment of the left-wing Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing New People’s Army (NPA). This was part of Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade’s statement and supported by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) through Undersecretary Lorraine Marie T. Badoy, their spokesperson.
List of schools included
- UP DILIMAN
- UP MANILA
- The UNIVERSITY OF STO. TOMAS
- FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY
- POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
- UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST
- ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
- UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI
- UNIVERSITY OF CALOOCAN CITY
- BULACAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- ARELLANO UNIVERSITY
- HOLY TRINITY UNIVERSITY
- UP VISAYAS
- UP CEBU
- WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
- EARIST – EULOGIO AMANG RODRIGUEZ INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- CENTRAL PHILIPPINE UNIVERSITY
- EMILIO AGUINALDO COLLEGE
- CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY
- BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
- UP BAGUIO
- UP TACLOBAN
- MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY ILIGAN AND, MSU GEN SANTOS
- HOLY ANGEL UNIVERSITY
- TARLAC STATE UNIVERSITY
- BUKIDNON STATE UNIVERSITY
- BENGUET STATE UNIVERSITY
- IFUGAO STATE UNIVERSITY
- UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES
- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHEASTERN PHILIPPINES
- ATENEO DE DAVAO
- XAVIER UNIVERSITY
- FILAMER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
- CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY
- AKLAN STATE UNIVERSITY
- BICOL UNIVERSITY
- ATENEO DE NAGA
- ST. THOMAS AQUINAS UNIVERSITY
Official Statement of BulSU Executive Committee
“This charge was made together with other schools which, through their statements, clarified and detest such identification as baseless and irresponsible,” according to the official statement from the BulSU Executive Committee released last Wednesday, January 27, 2021.
“We come to assert the same. The right to free speech, press, and assembly is a right guaranteed to every person, even to students and faculty. These rights are not shed whenever a person enters the school gates. However, while the University celebrates progressive ideas of its community, it has and will never support any movement that is aimed at the violent overthrow of the Government,” they added.
“We remind the Undersecretary and NTF-ELCAC that the expression of opinion in controversial topics and criticism of societal wrongs are inevitable products of learning. The respect accorded by the University to free expression must neither be equated as tolerance to a certain group’s ideology nor be mistaken as sympathy towards a group that aims to overthrow the Government,” they said.
“In the spirit of justice and fairness, Bulacan State University accords respect and supports the Government’s intention to promote national peace. As an academic institution, we believe, and we are willing to work with any government institution or organization for a peace that is sought and achieved through peaceful undertakings alongside productive discourses,” they added.
What is Red-tagging?
According to a journal, Red-tagging or red-baiting is a “common strategy of state actors to intimidate and muzzle government-critical individuals, activists, human rights defenders as well as organizations who peacefully engage for their rights. They are labeled as state enemies, communist terrorists or members of communist front organizations – labels that give rise to human rights violations in the Philippines.”
However, in a statement from NTF-ELCAC, Redtagging is a myth created by the CPP NPA NDF to protect its fronts from being unmasked because those masks perform an important goal for them: they give the terrorist organization the cover it needs as they go about snatching our children from us, destroying our country and installing communism in our country.
Sources
OBSERVER: A Journal on threatened Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines [Abstract]. (2014). OBSERVER: A Journal on Threatened Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines, 5(1). Retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://ipon-philippines.org/wp-content/uploads/ObserverJournal/Observer_Vol.6_Nr.1_RedBaiting2.pdf