KABATAAN Partylist and its allied lawmakers have refiled a measure seeking to strengthen academic freedom and protect students and teachers from alleged repression, militarization, and violations of their rights within educational institutions.

House Bill No. 11678, or the proposed Academic Freedom Bill, was filed in the 20th Congress by Kabataan Partylist, Gabriela Women’s Party, and ACT Teachers Partylist.

Kabataan Representative and Assistant Minority Leader Renee Louise Co said the measure comes amid alleged attacks on student activism, including disciplinary sanctions imposed by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on students who protested a Philippine Air Force (PAF) campus exhibit and red-tagging allegations involving University of the Philippines Rural High School (UPRHS) students and faculty who commemorated Martial Law.

Co said suppressing students and teachers who question government actions and expose corruption undermines democratic freedoms and hinders social progress.

She cited the cases of UST students Raven Racelis, Ralph Manuel, Sean Capalar, and Dex Frogoso, who were reportedly sanctioned over their protest against the PAF exhibit.

According to Kabataan, the university cited the military’s complaint in justifying the disciplinary action.

The proposed measure seeks to prohibit arbitrary suspensions, the co-optation of student organizations, and digital surveillance targeting student activists.

It also seeks to criminalize red-tagging, including allegations involving personalities linked to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), who reportedly labeled UPRHS students and faculty as political props and underground recruits following their commemoration of the September 21 Martial Law anniversary.

Co said the bill draws from the 2024 United Nations Draft Principles for Implementing the Right to Academic Freedom and the 2026 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on youth activism.

Under the proposal, public officials and educational institutions found complicit in militarization, arbitrary disciplinary actions, and the stigmatization of youth activism could face imprisonment and fines.

The measure also seeks to protect digital spaces from shutdowns and surveillance or profiling targeting student activists.

Kabataan is urging Congress to act swiftly on the bill, stressing that schools should remain spaces for learning, critical thinking, and the free exchange of ideas rather than venues for intimidation and repression.