Transcending University Borders
By: Lemuel Deinla & Juan dela Cruz
Academic freedom is under attack.
Amidst a pressing pandemic and growing sociopolitical tension, the past few months have been too much for us to bear, as new issues seemingly arise when we open our eyes to each sunrise. Yet again, the government seems keen on finding ways to prioritize anything but the pandemic.
Last January 15, the administration unilaterally terminated the 1989 UP-DND Accord, which prevented state forces from entering the institution, due to baseless claims that the university was a hub for CPP-NPA recruitment. Students and UP alumni alike have expressed their frustration and resistance to this act, as it poses a grave threat to dissent and danger to the lives of Filipino students and their teachers. However, for the average Filipino, the term “academic freedom” may seem foreign to the ears.
Academic freedom is a guarantee that the exchange of ideas would remain free from reprisal and repression. With the presence of academic freedom, people would not have to fear punishment from authorities when studying any topic, whether it be debating if Attack on Titans is pro-fascism or not, talking about the relevance of BL series in the Philippines, or criticizing Duterte’s failed pandemic response. Ideas, no matter how mundane or radical, and their free exchange between people, should be protected. To think and to express freely is a right that the state should uphold by all means.
Through the Anti-Terror Law and the termination of the UP-DND Accord, the administration is suppressing the liberty of the people to think, analyze, and express. It deems deviant those who dissent from the status quo that they uphold, forcing the population to adhere to the ideals they propagate. Behind the surface, there exists a fear of ideas, for ideas have innate, immeasurable power. Ideas have the power to break the silence and to liberate. This fear of ideas is held by those who benefit from the status quo. It stems from an urgency to protect and propagate an oppressive system that serves them.
“Ideas, no matter how mundane or radical, and their free exchange between people, should be protected.”
Most prominently, our history is a witness to the power of ideas. The idea of a free and independent Philippines captivated the minds of our heroes. Three hundred years of colonial oppression pushed the Filipino masses deep into brutal poverty and utter subservience that would kindle the determination to fight for freedom. Such resolve was nourished by the idea of a future free from foreign domination.The Spaniards tried their best to repress these ideas of independence, going so far as to banning any texts or books discussing such an idea and executing anyone espousing it. No matter how hard the Spaniards tried, the idea of freedom prevailed and the revolution was won in 1898.
Almost a century later, Ferdinand Marcos failed to kill the idea of freedom in 1972 when he declared martial law. Scores of students and citizens kept the idea of freedom alive until Marcos was overthrown in 1986. Three years later, the hard won freedom by students would be enshrined in an accord between UP and DND that would ensure repressive state apparatuses, that is the police and military, would never again set foot in the nation’s bastion of militant freedom. However, toppling down tyrants is not the only manifestation of the power of ideas. It is further demonstrated in the ongoing struggle for freedom — freedom from poverty, freedom from patriarchy, freedom from ignorance. People should be free to question authority, investigate their lived realities, and share what they have learned.
Thus, these intrusive acts of the administration against the operations of the university are regressive of building safe spaces for thought and expression. Academic freedom itself is a constitutional right, and discarding it hinders the true growth of a student who should be free to explore the power of ideas. In scrapping academic freedom, the administration prioritizes producing slaves who blindly follow its interests instead of critical thinkers who brazenly fight for the right change. A student should be capable of seeking the truth without the fear of state persecution. Especially in a time of rampant misinformation, state-constricted education is not education — it is manipulation.
During Duterte’s presidency, the termination of the UP-DND Accord was not the first time that he and his administration threatened the academic freedom of students and professors. In February 2018, he warned students to stop protesting or else they would be expelled. September that year, CHEd Commissioner Prospero De Vera told state universities to halt calling for Duterte’s ouster as it was “illegal.” In October 2018, then PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde threatened to charge teachers who “instigate students to go against the government.” The AFP even created a list of universities that were supposedly havens for communist recruiters, however, the list includes a non-existent city college in Caloocan. The said institutions were redtagged by Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. in an attempt to link them to a plot to overthrow the government. The accord itself was violated several times before its unilateral abrogation by Sec. Delfin Lorenzana. During the Independence Day protest denouncing NCRPO chief Debold Sinas’ mañanita party and the Anti-Terror Bill, the police entered UP Diliman premises to block protesters from joining the rally. Police forces trespassed UP Cebu to arrest protesters conducting a peaceful demonstration. Last November 2020, Duterte also threatened to defund UP for calling an academic strike, even if it was ADMU students who did so. Just recently, PNP raided the University of San Carlos to ‘rescue’ Lumad children who were being cared for by the institution. The police filed abduction cases later against volunteer teachers and elders.
Despite constant suppression, academic freedom should be protected at all times — it is precisely this that gives society answers to the problems that continue to plague its soil. Academic freedom grants the academe liberty to research on the issues that are present in the community, whether simple or systemic. Thus, academic freedom transcends just the university or collegiate sphere; it continues to affect society through research, policy, and rippling change.
This is why the free exchange of ideas is a human right. To label dissenters as criminals suppresses the growth that society needs to thrive. In protecting academic freedom, we safeguard a future that treasures free expression and innovation. From these seemingly simple ideas arise genuine, liberating change. Such is the power of ideas when maximized for the greater good — it blazes a trail towards a promising dawn of freedom and justice.
