UPLB decries ‘propaganda’ video linking students protest to communists

The University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) on Wednesday claimed that a video released recently by a government task force is merely propaganda aimed to depict its students as part of communist organizations.

Posted by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, the video showed an old clip of a protest at the UPLB campus while a mother detailed her daughter's experience after joining Anakbayan.

"[I]t is nothing but a propaganda video that maliciously depicts UPLB students and organizations as belonging to communist organizations and puts them at risk of persecution," Chancellor Fernando Sanchez Jr. said in a statement.

The alleged propaganda video was released as a Mother's Day special.

"UPLB students in the video were in the legitimate exercise of their rights guaranteed by our Constitution -- the freedom of speech and expression and the right to petition for redress of grievances," Sanchez said.

"They should not be vilified in any venue for taking a stand on issues affecting society. The exercise of these rights is a cornerstone of a democracy that lives in the hearts of every citizen," he added.

 Sanchez further stressed that UP is "free to conform or dissent" to issues.

"When we conform, we recognize what is good for society. When we dissent, we are only being true to the role of UP as a nation's conscience," Sanchez said.

He added that rallying is not a plan to overthrow the government but to demand accountability.

"We may be on opposite ends of the political spectrum and may differ in ideology but we have a common goal, a common aspiration -- a just and human society for our people," Sanchez said. —LDF, GMA News