A YOUTH group called on the government to stop “vilifying” the youth and focus its attention to finding a way for the safe resumption of physical classes instead.

The National Union of Students of the Philippines lamented that state forces undermine the “safety of academic spaces.”

Jandeil Roperos, NUSP president, said that the government “is preoccupied with instilling terror through red-tagging and militarizing democratic spaces.”

Roperos issued the statement following the dialogue between University of the Philippines President Danilo Concepcion and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on the abrogation of an agreement that barred security forces from entering UP campuses without prior notice.

Key officials of UP and the Defense department met on Thursday, February 4, to discuss issues surrounding the termination of the accord upon the initiative of the Commission on Higher Education.

Both parties agreed to conduct more discussions.

Roperos said that no matter the outcome of the dialogues, the students will “oppose the state’s attacks on our democratic rights.”

“Duterte and CHED’s way forward has never benefited Filipino students. More to the point, Duterte and his state forces are the prime suspects in undermining the safety and security of academic spaces through their incessant efforts to impose fear on universities by red-tagging them,” she said.

“Their default response to the vocal Filipino youth is to isolate them: either by vilifying them or excluding them in decision-making,” she added.

Roperos urged the students to closely follow the dialogues, saying that “it will set the tone for the state’s future moves regarding military and police presence in schools.”