UP official: “We don’t recruit for the Communist Party”
The University of the Philippines (UP) denied the claims of President Rodrigo Duterte that the country’s national university is “recruiting communists.”
Elena Pernia, UP vice president for public affairs, said in an interview that UP is “not anti-government” despite having a long history of being activist.
“Ang UP ‘di nagre-recruit. We don’t recruit for the Communist Party. We are an educational institution. We teach, we do research, we do public service. We don’t recruit,” she said.
The University of the Philippines noted in a separate statement on its website that it values “the freedom to think, to speak, to study, to teach, and even the freedom to disagree.”
“UP encourages critical thinking which, at times, may manifest as an attitude of dissidence and anti-authoritarianism,” the university added.
Recently, Duterte threatened to defund the University of the Philippines amid a petition of students for an academic strike in connection with the disaster response of the government.
According to the country’s national university, 15 members of the present administration are alumni of UP which include spokesperson, Harry Roque, Tourism Secretarty Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis-Briones, ScienceSecretary Fortunato dela Peña, and Higher Education Chairman Prospero de Vera III.
Elena Pernia said that cutting the funding of the university will affect the nationwide operations of the university.
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