Organizations, student councils, and institutions of the University of the Philippines (UP) one after another condemned the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for holding a march of over 1,000 troopers led by the Philippine Army Reserve Command in UP-Diliman to mark Araw ng Kagitingan on April 9. They asserted that UP is not a place for human rights violators.

In a unified statement from the Office of the Student Regent, Katipunan ng mga Sanggunian ng Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP), and the UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writer Organizations (UP Solidaridad), students denounced the march, asserting that the intrusion of state forces into the campus can never be justified.

“The university has long served as a bastion of resistance, critical though, and democratic movement. Its campuses must remain sanctuaries for academic freedom, dissent, and defense of human rights,” they declared.

Key student institutions in UP stand firm that the entry of the AFP into UP is not a neutral act. “It is part of a broader and historical campaign to suppress spaces for free thought and independent organizing,” according to their statement.

They emphasized that the AFP has a long history of Red-tagging, harassment, surveillance, and violence against ordinary Filipino masses as well as students, faculty members, and other members of the UP community. “Their continued presence is a direct threat to our safety, our rights, and our capacity to critically learn and organize freely,” they said.

The faculty regent also stood against this intrusion, saying it clearly compromises UP’s autonomy and signals acquiescence to the creeping authoritarianism that has, in recent years, targeted dissenters and critical institutions.

They called on the UP administration to immediately rescind the UP-AFP Declaration of Cooperation signed on August 8, 2024, which allows various forms of “cooperation” with the military at the expense of the rights of democratic sectors within the university. They urged for the reinstatement of the UP-Department of National Defense Accord as a safeguard against military intrusion and interference with UP’s autonomy.