University of Rizal System (URS) graduates staged symbolic protests on their June 26 graduation day at the Ynares Complex Center inside the Antipolo City Capitol in Rizal. According to progressive student groups, the action is “historic” for being unprecedented in the university.

Several graduates from URS Angono and URS Binangonan stepped onto the stage both to receive their diplomas and unfurl small streamers and placards bearing calls. Their demands included “Hands Off Student Leaders, Hands Off Activists, Defend Press Freedom, at Serve the People.”

They also expressed opposition to budget cuts to the university and public education, and called for proper facilities, higher salaries for teachers, and others. Some graduates from URS Cardona wore black ribbons on their clothes expressing solidarity with the calls of fellow students and their teachers.

A URS Angono Summa Cum Laude in her speech boldly raised the call to review the policy in the student handbook that bans activism in the university. She said the policy suppresses freedom of expression. She also criticized the URS administration for supporting rotten trapo (traditional politicians) and corrupt government officials.

The sudden appearance and growing presence of Rizal Provincial Police carrying high-caliber firearms amid the symbolic protest alarmed the students. Soldiers and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps personnel also inside the crowded complex. Parents and students were forced to avoid protruding rifle barrels that nearly brushed their faces.

Violations of democratic rights in URS

URS students faced the administration’s intense academic repression and the 2nd ID and 80th IB soldiers’ interference in the university.

The Dean of the College of Social Sciences-URS Pililla Campus on May 19 went to the house of Gelim Maribojoc, a URS Pililla student and member of Rizal Youth for Masungi. The Dean questioned Maribojoc’s participation in the May 1 International Workers’ Day protest and threatened possible violations of the URS student handbook. The dean replied that he would “consult” the 2nd ID When Maribojoc asserted his rights and clarified the alleged violations cited by the dean.

URS Angono teachers experienced similar intimidation and threats for joining the May Day protest to call for an increase in their meager salary of ₱90 per hour.

The Negros 19 massacre in Toboso in April stirred many URS students to express their views and condemn human rights violations. The military then deployed intelligence agents inside the campus and questioned students about the issue. These agents criticized and had some posts of students and campus organizations taken down.

The continuing interference of the 2nd ID and 80th IB in URS campuses gravely concerned students and teachers. They criticized the administration’s open collusion with the military, further reinforced by the “courtesy visit” of Lt. Col. Marco Antonio Magisa of the 2nd ID to URS President Dr. Nancy T. Pascual on June 24.

—report from Kalatas, a revolutionary newspaper in Southern Tagalog