UST-CSC demands gov’t accountability, vows to embody resistance

The University of Santo Tomas Central Student Council (UST-CSC) on Monday demanded accountability from government officials for their actions amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

In a statement, the UST-CSC cited events such as Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel's alleged violations of quarantine measures in late March and National Capital Region Police Office chief Major General Debold Sinas’ “mañanita” in early May.

“From having high-ranking officials such as Senator Koko Pimentel violation ECQ guidelines, the NCRPO chief Major General Debold Sinas being unreprimanded for holding a mass gathering in our state-sponsored institutions, to the numerous attempts of President Spokesperson, Harry Roque, to mask and fend the ill, and most of the time fallacious, words spoken by our president,” the UST-CSC said.

“It is first and foremost just that we demand accountability from our officials before creating rushed laws that impede our fundamental rights and freedom of speech. Needless to say, these are not just and humane,” it added.

The complaint filed against Pimentel has been forwarded to the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police, according to the Department of Health.

Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte threw his support behind Sinas amid the controversy, saying that he did not want Sinas reassigned.

The UST-CSC also accused the government of prioritizing the silencing of dissent amid the pandemic.

“From the Duterte administration’s low-blow attack of rejecting ABS-CBN’s franchise in an effort to stifle press freedom, to the expatiated approval of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, the government has made the silencing of our fellow Filipinos its utmost priority in a time of crisis,” it said.

On May 5, ABS-CBN went off the air after the National Telecommunications Commission issued a cease and desist order over the network's lack of a franchise despite being told that it would be allowed to operate through a provisional license.

The President also signed the anti-terror bill, a measure he had certified as urgent, into law on July 3 despite opposition and concern from various groups due to its provisions.

“As President Duterte falls deaf towards the cries of the people, his self serving and personal interests prevail. This is not how a democracy works,” the UST-CSC said.

The UST-CSC also said that it will “embody the resistance.”

“As our rights are being taken away, we can longer sit idly by and watch our freedom slowly compromised and abused by those in positions of power,” it said.

“[T]hrough collective efforts, we will embody the resistance and furbish our strength until it extends to the majority of our fellow Filipinos, the true cradle of our sovereignty,” it added. — DVM, GMA News