Makabayan bloc to Duterte: Listen to the youth instead of threatening them

Members of the House Makabayan Bloc on Wednesday slammed President Rodrigo Duterte's threat to defund the University of the Philippines after some of its students and faculty called for an academic strike.

In a statement, Kabataan party-list Representative Sarah Elago said that the students' concerns are legitimate and just, due to the impact of the recent typhoons and the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is not even an issue of communism, she added, but of the real situation of the students amid the calamities.

"Ang panawagan ng mga kabataan at kaguruan ngayon ay national academic break bilang national policy. Nasa ilalim ng state of calamity ang buong Luzon dahil sa epekto ng bagyo," Elago said.

"Hirap na hirap na din ang mga kabataan at kaguruan sa palpak na programa sa edukasyon ng pamahalaan sa gitna ng pandemya. Pakinggan natin sila at 'wag takutin at gawing hostage ang pondo ng mga unibersidad," she added.

In a speech on Tuesday night, Duterte accused UP of recruiting the youth into communist groups in response to calls for an academic strike from students of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).

“‘Yung mga eskwelahan, UP, fine. Maghinto kayo ng aral, I will stop the funding. Wala nang ginawa itong ano kundi mag-recruit ng mga komunista diyan,” he said, echoing his administration's red-tagging of schools and students.

However, it was Ateneans and not UP students who led calls for an academic strike to protest the government’s “criminally neglectful” typhoon and pandemic response.

Bayan Muna party-list Representative Ferdinand Gaite said Duterte's remark only further showed "how detached he is from the people."

"Bumaba siya sa helicopter niya at makinig sa hinaing ng taumbayan, baka sakaling maintindihan niya kung saan nanggagaling itong mga kabataang nagpo-protesta," he said.

"Bayan Muna will continue supporting the academic strike, and all the efforts to help our fellow Filipinos affected by the typhoon especially those led by the youth," he added.

For her part, ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro urged Duterte to take the concerns of the students seriously and not dismiss them with threats of defunding and red-tagging.

"Mula pa sa prioritization ng mga programa sa 2021 national budget, hanggang sa pagtugon nito sa mga kagyat na panawagan para sa ayuda sa mga nasalanta, wala tayong nakikitang kahit katititing na pakialam mula sa administrasyong Duterte," she said.

"This administration should know that it is the state's responsibility to provide the youth access to their right to quality education. Threats of defunding the premier public university violates the youth's right to education," she added.

The Makabayan Bloc led by Elago has filed a House resolution urging the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Education to heed the call for an academic break nationwide following the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque previously warned Ateneans that they would fail their classes and not be able to graduate if they participated in the strike.

UP Los Baños, for its part, had earlier denounced a “propaganda” video that linked its students to communist organizations. — BM, GMA News