An alliance of Filipino teachers, researchers, school administrators, and other education professionals launched an online library of books and documents deemed as "subversive" by the military.
On Nov. 1, the Academics Unite for Democracy and Human Rights (AUDHR) launched Multong Aklat Endangered Books Digital Archive.
According to AUDHR, the archive is being established as a free and easily accessible resource of endangered books and materials in the context of the ongoing campaign by state forces to pull out "subversive" books from various state university libraries.
Multong Aklat contains digital copies of books and articles classified under five main folders: Martial Law Literature, Marxist Literature, Marxist-Lenist-Maoist Classics, National Democratic Front Books and Writings, and Philippine Radical Thought.
"Academic freedom is a useless concept if people do not have access to educational materials. Unfortunately, the limitations of the publishing industry in the Philippines and state neglect of education have led to our current situation in which most Filipinos cannot afford books, academic journals, and other similar texts," the website read.
"Although this problem needs structural solutions, uploading free-to-download materials constitutes an initial step toward democratizing access to information. While still acknowledging that Internet connectivity is highly unequal across social classes and geographical spaces, we remain optimistic in the potential of creating communities of teachers, students, researchers, activists, and community organizers based on the sharing of knowledge and visions."
Earlier, officials from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, educators, students, and community presses hit the removal of "subversive" documents and books from at least three state universities.
READ MORE: 'Hands off our libraries': Educator laments removal of NDFP books from university libraries
Meanwhile, the Commission on Higher Education urged UP to "respect" the decision of other state universities to pull out "subversive" reading materials.