Faculty members of the University of the Philippines (UP) under the Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND) called on candidates gunning for national posts in May 2022 polls defend academic freedom.

The group made the statement on Wednesday, Jan. 19 a year after the administration’s unilateral termination of the UP- Department of National Defense (DND) Accord.

CONTEND pointed out that UP has been the subject of "increasingly virulent attacks on academic freedom" by the administration's military and police forces ever since the termination one year ago of UP-DND Accord — which prohibits the entry of military and police forces in UP campuses without prior coordination with the UP administration.

“Candidates in the 2022 elections — especially UP alumni running for office — must stand against red-tagging, book purgings, and other attacks on academic freedom that ultimately aim to repress dissenting voices and critical thinking in the University,” UP History Prof. Francisco Jayme Paolo Guiang of Tanggol Kasaysayan said.

The group also aired its rejection to the candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Sara Duterte, who according to them,"both pledged the continuation of their fathers’ dictatorial regimes. Marcos Jr. himself praised the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) bloody record which is reminiscent of his father’s human rights abuses during martial law.

“Our next leaders must link arms with our call for the abolition of NTF-ELCAC, the number one purveyor of state-sponsored vilification and campus militarization,” said Guiang.

UP Prof. Karlo Mongaya of the Defend UP Network emphasized that the past year saw UP students, faculty, academic employees, staff, and progressive administrators heroically pushed back against the attempts of President Duterte and the NTF-ELCAC to stifle free thinking and civil liberties.

“The UP community will surely stand with candidates — from the presidential and senatorial contests down to the local level — who will uphold the UP-DND Accord and defend academic freedom. We expect nothing less from our leaders, especially UP alumni sharing our ideals of honor, excellence, and genuine service to the people,” said Mongaya.

Mongaya said collective action by the UP community to uphold the UP-DND Accord has borne fruit with the UP Board of Regents passing a resolution on the issue last year.

During its session on September 21, 2021, the lower chamber, with 179 affirmative votes, unanimously approved House Bill No. 10171 that would amend Section 11 of the Republic Act No. 9500 or the 2008 UP Charter.

According to UP's website, the UP-BOR in its 1365th meeting on Nov. 4, 2021 approved and adopted a resolution that commends the authors of House Bill No. 10171 and the members of the House of Representatives “who heeded the calls of the UP community to defend academic freedom and who worked and fought for the approval of HB No. 10171”.