IN a democracy, there is nothing wrong about being anti-government.
This may come as a shock to Armed Forces chief Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., but the act of opposing the government in power is essential to a democratic system in which the best ideas emerge from untrammeled debate about crucial national issues, among parties that often disagree. Dissent is no more subversive than a vote cast during an election for the political opposition, as long as those who campaign for change do so peacefully.
But eager to sell the idea of a communist plot against the Duterte administration, General Galvez and his subordinates have been using a broad brush to paint institutions and individuals a bright, communist red.
Galvez said during a Senate budget hearing that the Communist Party of the Philippines has reportedly organized students in 10 universities in Manila for the “Red October” plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
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Later on, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. named 18 universities and claimed that recruitment was being done through screenings of martial law and other “nationalistic” films.
When—outside of the martial law years themselves—has it been subversive to screen movies about freedom and democracy? When has it been wrong to espouse nationalistic ideals?
The military has presented no proof to support its allegations against the 18 universities and colleges that were named.
Instead, it released some names and photos and school affiliations of four coeds who had allegedly joined the communist movement and who were killed “in different places and time.” But what proof do we have that these four youths had indeed joined the armed struggle against the government? How can we be sure that they, too, were not simply caught up in the military’s broad, red strokes, and paid with their lives for mere political dissent? Does the release of their photographs constitute proof? Or is it just more red tagging at the expense of these young people’s families?
Sadly, the military’s red fever seems to be catching.
Commission on Higher Education chief Prospero de Vera III spoke out against college and university professors over their biases against the government.
“I frown at professors who, under the guise of academic freedom, present only one side. There are too many professors who are like that,” De Vera said in an interview on radio dzBB.
“For them, the government has done nothing good [for the people]. All they want is to topple the government. They are not doing the students a favor.”
Mr. De Vera is not doing us any favors, either, by failing to do what a person in his position should be doing—standing up for academic freedom and speaking out against guilt by innuendo and association that was the hallmark of McCarthyism.