By Minka Klaudia Tiangco A 20-year-old student from the University of the East (UE)-Manila was allegedly forced to issue a public apology before barangay officials in Cabiao, Nueva Ecija after he criticized the Duterte administration in an online argument with his former teachers. Joshua Molo, editor-in-chief of the UE Dawn, said his former teachers made him choose between publicly apologizing to the teachers who were offended by his social media posts or facing a cyber libel case. “The teacher said that either I’ll issue a public apology, or they will pursue the case. Knowing that we were not capable of countering the case, I opted to issue the apology,” he told reporters in an online exchange. Molo was escorted by barangay officials to the barangay hall on Saturday afternoon where his apology was recorded on video and a blotter entry was made. “Ang unang nakalagay sa blotter is that bawal na ako magsabi ng masama (What was initially written in the blotter was that I am now prohibited from saying anything) against the government, but I insisted on deleting that part,” he said. But even after he posted his apology on his Facebook page, the teachers who he apologized to reportedly sought help from the police. “The teacher said she already asked the PNP what to do,” he said. “Hayaan daw ako magpost para daw dadamputin na lang ako. Or hayaan ako maging aktibista para damputin na lang (Let me make more critical posts or become an activist so they can arrest me). I was red tagged.” After Molo’s apology went viral on Facebook, the barangay officials asked him to take it down. All of this stemmed from a Facebook story that Molo posted, where he slammed his former teachers for telling him to just cooperate with the government’s orders in light of the COVID-1 crisis. “Di na yata nila ako kilala (Maybe they do not know me anymore). Or they are just privileged enough not to see what other people are experiencing. Sabagay puno naman yung refs nila at may sweldo sila (Well, their refrigerators are full and they have their salaries) despite the pandemic,” he said in his story. “Yung pamilya ko wala (My family does not have that). I spent more than half of my savings already, so don’t tell us na masyado pa kaming bata (that we are too young). Baka masyado lang kayong okay na sa buhay niyo, kasi may nakakain kayo everyday (Maybe you are just fine with your lives because you have something to eat every day),” he added. He then posted another story with a screenshot of his former teachers’ online exchange, where they were allegedly ridiculing his previous post. He did not cover his former teachers’ names. “I am so disappointed that my former campus journalism teachers are making fun of my recent statements just because they are OBVIOUSLY slapped by it. Maybe the ‘campus journalism’ they are upholding only exists for contests, for bragging rights,” he said. The Manila Bulletin reached out to the teachers, but they have yet to respond as of press time. The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) called this a “blatant suppression against the people’s democratic rights” in a time where checks and balances are needed. “Now, more than ever, we need to fight and resist all forms of suppression that trample our right to free speech. We will never succumb to any deleterious pronouncement and threat,” CEGP National President Daryl Angelo Baybado said in a statement. The UE University Student Council and UE Debate and Speech Society demanded justice for what happened to Molo, saying that forcing him to publicly apologize is illegal and a show of abuse of power.