CEBU CITY, Philippines – The administration of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu has appealed for the “immediate” release of their students and alumni who were arrested by policemen for allegedly violating the government’s ban on mass gatherings while conducting a protest rally against the Anti-Terrorism Bill in front of the school’s entrance gate last June 5.
In a statement released on Sunday night (June 7), UP Cebu officials said they have reviewed the video footage of the incident and documented accounts of witnesses which all showed that the protesters were illegally arrested and detained even if they were just exercising their right to peaceful assembly.
“The constitutional right of individuals to express their views publicly and to hold protests peacefully and safely is not proscribed under any law. Recent disturbing events on the steamrolled passage of anti-terrorism legislation by Congress and reported cases of abuse of authority by state officials and their agents, all the more demonstrate, as an essential activity, the right to peaceful protest in an outdoor setting,” the UP administration said.
“Our students are not criminals and they were despicably manhandled by police force who were in full battle gear and heavy firearms during the arrest. This is totally unacceptable. As a democratic country in precarious conditions, we cannot tolerate intimidation or the unnecessary show and use of force in any form, especially when carried out by agents of the state imbued with constitutional duties to protect the public,” it added.
The UP Cebu administration maintained that the 1989 Peace Accord between UP and the Department of National Defense be upheld and respected by police forces.
The university said it did not permit the entry of policemen at the UP Cebu campus last Friday.
“We denounce their forceful trespassing to our premises. We maintain that the University of the Philippines Cebu shall stay as a safe space of academic discourse, where our constituents remain free in their exercise of academic freedom, free from any form of threats, harassment, or intimidation,” the university administration said.
UP Cebu called on Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella and Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of the Cebu City Police, to seriously look into the “clear transgression against our constituents and our property.”
Three UP Cebu students, four members of progressive groups, and a bystander were arrested by the police on June 5 for allegedly holding a mass gathering which is prohibited to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Charges for violating the Batas Pambansa 880 or the Public Assembly Act of 1985, Republic Act 11332 otherwise known as the Law on Reporting of Communicable Diseases, and resistance and disobedience to persons in authority were filed against them at the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.
The protesters called for the scrapping of the anti-terrorism bill which includes “questionable” provisions that are prone to human rights abuses. The administration of UP Cebu echoed the sentiments of its students, describing the bill as “seriously flawed” because of its failure to clearly operationalize the definition of “terrorism.”
“This sweeping anti-terrorism legislation will be prone to abuse and misuse by those whom the people have entrusted the authority to exercise the power, resources, and duties of the government,” it said.
“We join the call to condemn all legislations, absent of careful and thorough deliberations, that would seek to expand arbitrary powers, and potentially impinge on the basic rights and civil liberties of citizens, particularly free speech and expression of dissent,” it added.
UP Cebu urged the government to focus its efforts on the country’s most urgent concern, which is the pandemic, and the dire human insecurity of hunger and lack of health provisions for the people.
“UP Cebu, as with the rest of the UP system, will continue to assist the government in providing for scientific and humanitarian services to help resolve this crisis. This is what our people deserve. No less,” the university administration said.