UP Cebu demands release of students, alumni

The University of the Philippines Cebu administration called for the release of its students and alumni who were arrested by local police during a protest against the Anti-Terrorism Bill last June 5. 

The protesters arrested last Friday were Jaime Paglinawan of BAYAN (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) Central Visayas, Bern Cañedo of UP Cebu University Student Council, Nar Athena Mae Porlas of Anakbayan UP Cebu, Dyan Paula Gumanao of Kabataan Partylist Cebu, Janry Ubal of Food Not Bombs Cebu, UP alumni Al Ingking, and Joahanna Veloso of National Union of Students of the Philippines.

“(UP Cebu chancellor Liza Corro) with the rest of the UP Cebu administration, demands for the immediate release of our students and alumni who were unduly arrested and detained, along with four others, for exercising their right to peaceful assembly in our campus that day,” read the statement of UP Cebu posted Sunday night on Facebook. 

“After having reviewed video footages of the incident and documented accounts of witnesses of the protest against the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act last Friday, we strongly condemn the violent dispersal of the protest done by police forces, with many of their members in civilian clothing. Our students are not criminals and they were despicably manhandled by police force who were in full battle gear and heavy firearms during the arrest. This is totally unacceptable,” it further read.

The UP administration also accused the PNP of violating the 1989 UP-DND Peace Accord since police chased protestors into the campus grounds.

“We have not sanctioned the entry of the police in our campus and we denounce their forceful trespassing on our premises,” UP Cebu said.

The UP administration also added that protesters still have the right to peaceful assembly even under the current national emergency.

“The constitutional right of individuals to express their views publicly and to hold protests peacefully and safely is not proscribed under any law – not the Bayanihan Law, nor even under RA11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act,” UP Cebu’s statement further reads.

The school administration also called on the Cebu City government and the chief of the Cebu City Police Office to investigate the incident.