NCRPO: Students free to join rallies but not to rebel against gov't

Students remain free to participate in rallies protesting government policies, but should not rebel against the government, a high-ranking Philippine National Police (PNP) official said Monday. 

National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Guillermo Eleazar made the position in light of the upcoming dialogue between the PNP and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) after the military claimed that communists are recruiting members within 18 Manila-based universities.

“'Yung pagsama sa kilos protesta, hindi bawal 'yan. Hindi natin ito kinokondena. It is the right of the students to take part in protests, and in fact, it is the NCRPO which facilitates the orderly conduct of their protests,” Eleazar said.

Eleazar, however, stressed that the conduct of protests should not breach existing laws.

“Academic freedom is for promotion of critical thinking and student activism is part of a healthy, vibrant democracy. But these should not lead to or encourage them [students] to violate existing laws and take advantage of the student's idealism by inciting hatred and committing violence against the government,” Eleazar said.

“We [in the PNP] will work within the limits of the law. Doon po tayo nakabantay. Kapag may paglabag sa batas, we will enforce the law,” Eleazar added.

Eleazar then said that the CHED led by officer-in-charge Popoy de Vera will meet with university leaders first before going into a dialogue with the PNP to determine which actions would be considered unlawful.

“Libre po magpasa ng ideology, pero hindi ito dapat maging inciting to sedition or rebellion. 'Yan ang ayaw nating mangyari,” Eleazar said.

“Magulang rin ako. 'Yung pinag-aaral ko na mga anak, ayaw kong mapariwara,” Eleazar added.

The military has initially tagged 18 universities in Metro Manila as a site for communist recruitment done by showing students films about the Martial Law regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. which sent 70,000 to prison, tortured 34,000 people and killed at least 3,000 individuals.

The military, however, later clarified that such list has yet to be validated.

One of the schools in the list, Caloocan City College, also turned out to be non-existent based on CHED records. —Llanesca T. Panti/KG, GMA News