UP: Students need to explore the world outside the university

MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines (UP) clarified on Wednesday that its students undergo immersion activities because “they need to explore and appreciate the world outside” the university.

This was after Chief Supt. Edward Carranza, director of the Police Regional Office in Calabarzon, said students from UP and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Laguna were being forced to join the New People’s Army (NPA).

READ: UP, PUP students being forced to join NPA, says ex-rebels

“We recognize that our students’ education must go beyond the narrow confines of our classrooms or campuses,” UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Whatever academic degree they might be pursuing, our students need to explore and appreciate the world outside of UP and to develop their competencies, linked to social realities,” he added.

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Tan clarified that UP Diliman’s Office of Field Activities is tasked to evaluate out-of-classroom activities such as visits to museums, on-the-job training, and immersion activities.

“The Office for Field Activities’ many requirements come out of a recognition of our heavy responsibility, as administrators to assure the safety and well-being of our students and faculty, in and out of the classroom,” Tan said.

Tan added that the “red-baiting tactics” have alarmed the university as it not only caused distress to students but also allowed “red baiting impact” on soldiers and police especially in rural areas.

Despite the “red-bait tactics,” Tan said UP will continue to “encourage and support out-of-classroom learning activities while taking more precautions including obtaining prior clearances from local government officials.”

Tan added that they will “continue to coordinate with the police and the military but ask they exert more due diligence with their men and women in the field, especially in remote areas.” /ee