The Bicol Universitarian, the official student publication of Bicol University, strongly condemned the paper’s red-tagging in a Facebook page.

In a poster distributed by the FB page “GREEN SPARK” on August 28, it accused the publication and other youth organizations of being allies of the CPP-NPA and NDF and “poison” to the youth. It used the paper’s content as source for its lies.

“As a publication, being bold about truths is not terrorism. The publication does not tolerate red-tagging and this type of defamatory allegation has no place in the university,” The Bicol Universitarian said in the Editor’s Note of their FB Page.

It added that it “not only endangers the safety of innocent individuals and organizations, but also undermines the very purpose of a free and responsible press.”

This is not the first time publications in Bicol have been red-tagged. Last year, members of The Pillars, the official student publication of Ateneo De Naga University, suffered intimidation, surveillance, and red-tagging by elements of the 9th ID.