UP not recruiting for CPP, official says amid Duterte's claim, threat

A University of the Philippines (UP) official on Thursday belied President Rodrigo Duterte's claim that the university recruits students to become members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

"We do not recruit for the Communist Party [of the Philippines]. We have our mandate, we are an educational institution. We teach, we do research, we do public service,” UP vice president for public affairs Dr. Elena Pernia said in an ANC interview.

Pernia was reacting to Duterte's threat of defunding UP for allegedly being a breeding ground for communists — a threat stemming from his mistaken notion that UP is calling for an academic freeze to protest the government's alleged inefficiency in responding to disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was actually students of Ateneo de Manila University, and not UP, who started the call for an academic freeze.

“‘Yung mga eskwelahan, UP, fine. Maghinto kayo ng aral, I will stop the funding. Wala nang ginawa itong ano kundi mag-recruit ng mga komunista diyan,” Duterte said in a televised address earlier this week.

Pernia said the university’s liberal environment, which teaches students to be critical thinkers, should not be mistaken for recruitment for anti-government forces.

“The university is a liberal environment, and we value the fact that we can speak out, and academic freedom. That includes freedom to think, freedom to speak, freedom to disagree. This is seen as being dissident when it is not,” Pernia said.

“Being an activist is not a crime,” she added.

Though UP has a long history of activism, Pernia said it is not “anti-government.”

“We are the national university, we are dedicated to our nation’s quest for development. In fact, many of our government officials are from UP.  Noong estudyante sila, ganoon rin sila, nagtatanong, kritikal. Pero pagka-graduate nila, sila rin ang tutulong sa bayan,” she said.

High-profile Duterte administration officials who earned their degrees in UP include: Presidential spokesperson Herminio “Harry” Roque Jr., Tourism Chief Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Education Secretary Leonor “Liling” Magtolis-Briones, Department of Science and Technology Chief Fortunato “Boy” dela Peña, CHEd Commissioner J. Prospero “Popoy” de Vera III, Budget Chief Wendel Avisado, and Philippine Space Agency Director General Joel Joseph Marciano, Jr.

Pernia then said that defunding UP will not only deprive deserving students of quality education but also jeopardize government services and research initiatives that UP provides for the government, regardless of who is the sitting President.

According to Pernia, UP has 50,000 to 60,000 students, 5,500 faculty members, around 5,000-strong academic staff in 16 campuses and eight other attached units.

UP has been allocated P19 billion funding under the proposed 2021 national budget, a budget that includes that of the UP-Philippine General Hospital.

“We hope it will not happen because the university’s operations is nationwide. We do most of our research projects in partnership with the government. Iyong P19 billion, kasama roon ang hospital operations of PGH. Any achievement of the government is fed partly by the achievements we made. Hindi ba sayang naman iyon?” Pernia said.

“Ang mandato namin ay knowledge creation, innovation. Sayang naman iyong kahusayan na nagagawa namin para sa bayan. I hope the President won’t do it.”

UP's pandemic response

In a separate statement, Pernia said that UP does not recruit for the communists as this is not its mission, and that UP has always played a critical role in training professionals, high-level specialists, scientists and researchers needed to generate new knowledge in support of development.

She then cited that during the past months of the pandemic alone, UP mobilized its multidisciplinary research expertise to address multiple COVID-19-related imperatives, including the following:

• 200 projects focusing on the molecular biology and clinical features of the virus;
• clinical trials on and evaluation of treatment (e.g., convalescent plasma);
• infection control measures;
• development of a COVID-19 testing kit;
• projections on the state of transmissions based on LGU data, and municipal/city density mapping of current active cases;
• engineering solutions (e.g., prototype adult ventilators, disinfectants and decontamination through different means);
• the development of apps (e.g., apps for more efficient case-finding and monitoring, job risk calculators for the workplace); and
• analysis of the pandemic’s socio-economic impacts (e.g., effects on the supply chain), among others.

“UP continues to serve the country and humanity in a myriad of ways, and its faculty, students, staff and alumni, who represent the country’s best and brightest, continue to uphold its principles of honor and excellence in the service of the Filipino people,” she added. —KBK/BM, GMA News