N.B. – This is the official statement of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC) as regards the Red-baiting of a student organization by the NTF ELCAC and Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade. This is also posted on UP CMC’s official Facebook page (https://web.facebook.com/UPCMC/photos/a.229788443709849/3091391934216138/).
PRESS STATEMENT
13 May 2020
NTF ELCAC, Parlade accountable for red-baiting UP CMC student org
If something happens to any of our students, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF ELCAC), particularly Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., shall be held responsible.
At a time when all government agencies should be focused on fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, it is deplorable that the NTF ELCAC and Parlade are engaged in Red-baiting.
In its post on the Facebook page of the NTF ELCAC last May 12 (10:18 p.m.), Parlade claimed that the shutdown of ABS-CBN is being exploited by various media organizations and cause-oriented groups that are said to be communist fronts. Among them was the Union of Journalists of the Philippines (UJP), a student organization of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (UP CMC).
The active involvement of UJP and other CMC-based student organizations in the campaign to renew ABS-CBN’s franchise reflects what they learned within and beyond the four walls of the classroom. Consistent with the official statement released by the College, all of us are defending press freedom for the simple reason that it is under siege.
The College actually commends our students for their bravery as they face the bashing of mindless trolls, and now the Red-baiting of those who do not understand press freedom.
For the information of NTF ELCAC and Parlade, our students are guided by the College’s vision for a free and independent media which is hardly communist. They also emulate our faculty members and alumni who speak truth to power.
If the NTF ELCAC and Parlade are on the lookout for “communist sympathizers,” perhaps it should investigate why the controversial “Wow China” has been airing on government media since 2018. They may also look into why some government officials, including the President, bow to the wishes of communist-led China even at the expense of national sovereignty.
Let this be our final warning to the NTF ELCAC and Parlade: We take Red-baiting of our students seriously. An attack on our students is an attack on our College.
At a time when a person accused of being a communist could be arrested, detained or killed, there is every reason to worry about our students’ safety and security. As the powers-that-be raise the communist bogey, we call on our students, especially the members of UJP, to be even more careful. There is now a political virus that is going after them. Let it be said, however, that the College shall protect our students’ basic rights, especially their freedom of speech and of expression as mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The dangers notwithstanding, we encourage our students to fight for the right to information and free speech!
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES COLLEGE OF MASS COMMUNICATION (UP CMC)