FACULTY members of the University of the Philippines who are members of the Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy called on candidates running for national office to defend academic freedom.

“Candidates in the 2022 elections — especially UP alumni running for office — must stand against red-tagging, book purgings, and other attacks on academic freedom that ultimately aim to repress dissenting voices and critical thinking in the University,” UP History Prof. Francisco Jayme Paolo Guiang of Tanggol Kasaysayan said.

“Our next leaders must link arms with our call for the abolition of NTF-ELCAC, the number one purveyor of state-sponsored vilification and campus militarization,” Guiang said, referring to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Prof. Karlo Mongaya of the Defend UP Network said that the past year saw UP students, faculty, academic employees, staff, and progressive administrators pushing back against the attempts of President Duterte and the NTF-ELCAC to stifle free thinking and civil liberties.

“The UP community will surely stand with candidates — from the presidential and senatorial contests down to the local level — who will uphold the UP-DND Accord and defend academic freedom. We expect nothing less from our leaders, especially UP alumni sharing our ideals of honor, excellence, and genuine service to the people,” Mongaya said.

He said that the collective action of the UP community to uphold the school’s accord with the Department of National Defense has borne fruit with the UP Board of Regents passing a resolution on the issue last year.

He also cited the crafting of House Bill 10171 that reached third reading in Congress last September 2021 before it was withdrawn by “allies” of the Duterte administration.