Panay Island progressive groups expressed alarm over the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Aklan State University (ASU) and the 82nd IB of the Philippine Army on January 26. The agreement is a dangerous military intrusion into civilian spaces and a violation of academic freedom, they said.

The memorandum allegedly aims to establish “partnerships in teaching, research, and community service.” The specific areas of “cooperation” it cites include Arnis training, disaster response, support for NSTP and ROTC programs, and environmental protection initiatives.

According to the League of Filipino Students (LFS)-Panay, achieving such goals must not place students, teachers, and other members of the university in danger. The group added that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has a long record of trampling on academic freedom and democratic rights—and continues to do so to date.

The AFP carries out these attacks on rights and freedoms under the “whole of nation approach” of its counterinsurgency campaign structured after the US Counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine. “Military intervention in educational institutions has long been an AFP tactic to disrupt spaces for critical discourse and support for oppressed sectors,” LFS-Panay said.

The Panay Alliance Karapatan said the signing between ASU and the 82nd IB is also integral to the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD). The group said this deceptive plan blurs the distinction between military and civilian spheres in society and aims to intensify surveillance, intimidation, and repression against the people and organizations arbitrarily tagged as enemies of the state.

According to Panay Alliance Karapatan, the plan creates a repressive environment for students and individuals who wish to study social issues and advance their advocacy against anti-people state policies.

The groups urged the ASU administration to reconsider the signed MOU and instead strengthen the defense of academic freedom and democratic rights of sectors within the university.

ASU was also among those that “surrendered” supposedly “subversive” books from its campus libraries to the Aklan police in September 2021. At least 13 books and documents from five ASU campuses were “turned over” in line with the order of the National Task Force-Elcac.