MANILA, Philippines — A protest erupted on Wednesday at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) campus in Sta. Mesa, Manila, a day after Duterte Youth party-list Rep. Ducielle Cardema made the call to scrap the university’s security pact with the Department of National Defense (DND).
Students and groups from different sectors such as Anakbayan were present during the rally.
The protest comes as Cardema, the vice-chairperson of the House committee on national defense and security, said the PUP-DND accord should be revoked as it creates “inequality” between the different state universities and colleges (SUC) in the country.
But Anakbayan-PUP chairperson Joseph Mariano slammed Cardema’s statement.
“Yung balita na pumutok kagabi ay banta lang po ito ng representative ng party-list ng Duterte Youth. Pero kung mapapansin po, ang Duterte Youth ay pwedeng boses ng mga kabataan, at nagsisilbi po ang Duterte Youth kay [President Rodrigo Duterte] po at sa kanyang administrasyon,” Mariano said.
(The news that broke last night was a statement of Duterte Youth. Duterte Youth could have been an avenue for the voice of the youth, but instead, it is serving Duterte and his administration.)
The DND previously terminated its accord with the University of the Philippines, with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana stating that the country’s premier state university has become “a safe haven for the enemies of the state.”