Red-tagging in universities persist in remote learning
By Elyjah Jann Rosales
When President Rodrigo Duterte formed an anti-communist task force, the national government’s intimidation campaign against progressives escalated. Now, it is spreading to virtual classes.
In Bulacan State University (BulSU), a class linked to the Reserved Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program became an avenue for red-tagging.
As the first semester draws to a close, different organizations reported that an ROTC instructor associated the League of Filipino Students (LFS) with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in a discussion on national security.
The lecture redbaited LFS, an anti-imperialist youth collective, when it mentioned the group along with the CPP and the NDFP as the “shield of the revolution” and an “umbrella” of the underground movement.
LFS is not a member of the CPP or the NDFP, a coalition of underground revolutionary organizations.
Alarmed, Rise for Education- BulSU (R4E- BulSU), denounced the intimidation and called the act a risk to the safety of the members of LFS.
“Sa kalagayan ngayon na maraming aktibista ang hinuhuli, at sa malala pa ay pinapatay at tino-torture, ang insidenteng ito ay matinding risgo sa seguridad ng mga BulSUan na miyembro ng naturang organisasyon at iba pa,” R4E- BulSU said in a statement.
R4E- BulSU, a broad alliance of students fighting for the right to education, was the first to learn of the accusation in consultation with a student the group did not name.
LFS- Bulacan, meanwhile, said that contrary to what the ROTC class implies, it remains to be a legal mass organization.
“Ang mga akusasyong walang katibayan ay malinaw na paglabag sa demokratikong karapatan sa pag-oorganisa,” LFS said.
Red-tagging in online classrooms was also recorded in other universities. In May, Gabriela Youth Laguna posted a photo on Facebook showing another ROTC class redbaiting trade union Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), and peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) in a discussion titled “Understanding Local Conflict.”
Severing the distinction between activists that operate within the boundaries of the law and the guerilla movement launching a democratic revolution has been a characteristic of the state’s crusade on activist circles.
In January, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), tagged 38 schools as recruitment grounds for the New People’s Army (NPA). BulSU was included in the list.
In a statement, the BulSU Student Government (SG) denounced the list as baseless and expressed the need to end the practice of linking progressive ideas to terrorism.
“Kailanman, ang pagiging radikal at mulat kontra katiwalian ay hindi uri ng terorismo,” the student council said. “Bagkus, isa itong daan tungo sa isang mas progresibo at demokratikong lipunan na siyang nakatuon at nagsisilbi sa interes ng mamamayan.”
