UP president probes Abad mobbing: ‘We do not condone violence’

Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad. INQUIRER.net file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Five days after Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad was mobbed by protesters after a forum at the University of the Philippines Diliman, the school administration and the students involved in the fracas have found themselves on opposite sides of the issue.

In a statement, University of the Philippines (UP) President Alfredo E. Pascual underscored that Abad was an invited speaker, and thus “should have been accorded the courtesy and respect due to all guests of the University.”

“While UP constituents are free to actively express their views on issues that affect our nation, such as the proper use of public funds, UP does not condone the use of violence in any manner against any person, be it a member of the university community, a visitor, or a government official,” Pascual said.

Last Wednesday, Abad was the guest speaker in a forum on the proposed UP budget at the UP School of Economics Auditorium. The forum was organized by the UP Diliman University Student Council and the UP School of Economics Student Council.

Based on a video of the incident posted online, Abad was leaving the auditorium after the forum when members of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (Stand UP), who were then protesting the Disbursement Acceleration Program, mobbed him and his bodyguards all the way to his car, calling him a thief and pounding on his vehicle as it drove away.

Earlier, Anakbayan chairman Vencer Crisostomo said the protesters threw crumpled pieces of paper, placards and coins at Abad, while one was even able to pull at his collar.

But in a statement posted on their Facebook page on Sunday evening, Stand UP denied being able to touch Abad, and turned the tables on his security escort. “As if our placards were pitchforks and the crumpled paper thrown were bombs, the guards manhandled us, shielded Abad and rushed him to his car,” the statement read.

“When [Abad] exited the venue, the video of the incident circulating online would show what transpired. And for what happened, we will never apologize,” the group said, in its statement.

The group denied intending to harm Abad, pointing out that they did not disrupt the forum. “With all the restraint our indignant group could muster, we waited for him outside because inside, in the so-called venue for dialogue, only five minutes were allotted for the open forum and questions from the audience were filtered,” the group statement said.

The group accused Abad of trying to evade a dialogue with the waiting protesters.

Stand Up said Abad was only “trying to sensationalize the incident….[in] an attempt to swing people’s attention to the petty issue of civility.”

The group said it was the responsibility of the “iskolar ng bayan” (country’s scholars) to be “the conscience of this nation, the voice of the oppressed, social critics undaunted by adversity and patient agents of social change.”

But Pascual cautioned: “I have always maintained that as the country’s national university, UP must lead the debate on important issues confronting the country. UP must also uphold the time-honored tradition of dissent vis-a-vis questionable government policies. But debate and dissent, while articulated with passion, require evidence-based and reasoned arguments, and civility to and respect for those who hold the opposite view. Abusive words and deeds have no place in the hallowed grounds of the University.”

Pascual said that the UP Diliman administration has started investigating the incident “in accordance with the University’s rules, including the participation of people who are not affiliated with UP.”

When sought for clarification, the UP System Information Office, which disseminated Pascual’s statement, said the investigation for now would only seek to clarify the basic details of the incident. Pascual was unavailable for interview as he was attending budget discussions in Congress.

“We expect the hectoring of Alfredo Pascual, nothing less from a Malacañang lackey, but we advise him not to over-react…and use this incident as a Marcosian pretext to interpret provisions of the Code of Student Conduct against us,” Stand Up said.

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