Students of the University of the Philippines (UP) walked out of their classrooms Tuesday to condemn what they claim as campus militarization in their school.

Wearing black, the students stepped out of their classes at past 11 with placards in hand.

They call this day the “National Day of Walkout”, pointing out that the police and the military are meddling with the affairs of the school.

The students said the campus militarization is curtailing their academic freedom.

Read: PNP denies alleged militarization of campuses

“Hindi po namin papayagan na pumasok ang AFP at PNP lalo na si Senador Bato at Duterte sa aming pamantasan dahil nakikita namin na wala silang puwang o agenda upang i-address ang mga bitbit naming panawagan [We will not allow the AFP and the PNP, especially Senator Bato and Duterte to enter our university because we know that they have no agenda to address our petitions],” said UP student Rachiel Villamor.

Several UP professors also joined the walkout.

“Alamin at kumilos na ipaglaban ang tingin nila ay tama. Yan ang itinuturo namin sa classroom. Yan ang ibig sabihin ng pagiging edukador. At magagawa yan hindi lang sa loob ng classroom. Magagawa yan kahit sa labas kahit sa lansangan [Know and act to fight what they think is correct. That is what we teach in the classroom. That is what a teacher is all about. And we can do that not only in the classrooms. We can do that even in the streets],” said Josephine Dionisio, chairperson of UP Department of Sociology.

Aside from the campus in Diliman, the National Day of Walkout was also observed in other UP campuses in the country. (from the report of Mon Jocson) /mbmf

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ronald dela Rosa is suggesting that universities and colleges should welcome the military and police and allow them to conduct their respective indoctrination.

The proposal is to curb the recruitment and brainwashing of students being practiced by the rebel group, New People’s Army (NPA).

But according to Police Chief General Oscar Albayalde, such recommendation was given a different interpretation by militant youth groups.

“This is misunderstood and medyo overreaction ang mga militanteng grupo. There is no such thing as militarization of a campus,” Albayalde said.

Albayalde insists that cops do not enter the school premises unless they have official business inside as stated in the agreement between the University of the Philippines, the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and the government specifically the Department of National Defense that police and military personnel are off limits inside campuses unless approved by the university administration.

“Itong mga militanteng grupo, they are trying to abuse that charter. Kami naman, we can freely enter the campus of UP even today,” the Police Chief noted.

Meanwhile, the PNP respects U.P. students’ decision to hold a day of walkout on Tuesday (August 20) citing their right to assembly provided that it is in accordance with the law. – MNP (with details from April Cenedoza)

The Philippine National Police-Anti Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) has arrested a Chinese national for allegedly kidnapping a fellow Chinese national over a gambling debt.

Chinese national, Libu Xu, is among the six suspects who purportedly kidnapped 25-year-old Xiaoguo Bian.

The hot pursuit operations for the remaining suspects continue, according to PNP-AKG spokesman Police Lieutenant Colonel Elmer Cereno.

“On going ang backtracking ng mga tao natin kasi identify naman
sila kaya nagha-hot pursuit operation sila ngayon (The backtracking of our personnel is ongoing [the suspects] have already been identified so authorities are currently conducting hot pursuit operations),” he said.

According to Cereno, Xiaoguo was held captive from July 29 to 31 at a hotel and was beaten up by the suspects.

The suspects asked Xiaoguo to pay RMB 300,000 for his release. He had a P1.5 million debt with a casino financier at Midas Hotel.

The suspects also went to the PCPS and told the authorities that they will file a case against Xiaoguo.

“So while the duty investigator was busy, they put him inside the jail without his knowledge. The investigator did not see that the Chinese men filmed the victim while he is in jail,” Cereno said.

The suspects then sent a video to Xiaoguo’s father in China after he was beaten up and while he was inside the PCPS jail cell.

Authorities later released Xiaoguo after no sufficient evidence was found to pursue the case.

On August 15, the authorities found out about the kidnapping incident after Xiaoguo’s father flew to the Philippines. He showed the video to the authorities and asked for police assistance.

After the rescue operation, Cereno said they are now conducting a follow-up operations for the remaining suspects.

Meanwhile, Cereno said they will review possible liability against the police investigator in the PCPS since it was never in their protocol to detain a person being complained. —AAC (with reports from Lea Ylagan)