A GROUP of faculty members at the University of the Philippines denounced the Commission on Higher Education for defending the removal of so-called “subversive” reading materials from the libraries of state universities and colleges and criticizing those who stand against book censorship.

Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy quoted National Artist Jose Garcia Villa and said that there’s “so much emptiness in so much verbiage from so much pretension” on CHED Chairman Prospero De Vera’s statement on academic freedom.

“De Vera is twisting the meaning and misrepresenting academic freedom, diverting the issue away from repressive acts of book censorship into a mere administrative matter of feigning mutual respect for the governance prerogatives of individual public universities,” CONTEND’s Lakan Umali said.

“We say no, book purging cannot be an exercise of academic freedom, which is based on the free and fair exchange of ideas, and not on their censorship. The purging of books from public libraries is one of the severest forms of censorship, and De Vera’s statement effectively sanctions it,” Umali added.

In a forum organized by CONTEND on October 29, 2021, UP Diliman Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo, UP Head Librarian Elvira Lapuz and 200 other UP librarians and faculty members expressed their opposition to book censorship and other attacks on academic freedom.

The Academics Unite for Democracy and Human Rights, an alliance of teachers, researchers, and other professionals, launched the “Aswang sa Aklatan” website on November 1, 2021 to house updates on the #HandsOffOurLibraries campaign. It also aims to serve as a “free and easily accessible resource of endangered books and materials.”

“We call on all students, educators, and members of the educational sector to hold CHED and other educational institutions accountable when they enable censorship and academic repression,” CONTEND’s Francisco Jayme Paolo Guiang said.

“Our schools and libraries are sanctuaries for academic freedom, and we will defend them from any attacks!” he added.