Silliman University (SU) found itself at the center of a firestorm—branded as a “recruitment haven” of communist groups—following the recent People’s Forum last April 3 that featured a youth activist and lawmakers who are seeking seats in the Congress and the Senate for the next three years.
In a heated online debate, parents and alumni overwhelmingly took their frustrations under the post’s comment sections, critically backlashing the forum’s sponsors: SU Faculty Association, Religion and Peace Studies Department, and socio-civic organization Ang Sandigan. Majority of the comments posed questions about academic freedom, political neutrality, and the role of the university in such electoral discourse.
Amid the public controversy, faculty members and students have been targeted by a notoriety of “red-tagging,” with some claiming that the forum appears to be a “one-sided platform” to “brainwash students” with leftist ideologies. Others raised doubts why the university would support candidates with pending criminal cases and alleged affiliations with the New People’s Army (NPA).
SU was not the first one to experience this. In 2020, a red-tagging campaign against a chancellor candidate of the University of the Philippines (UP) was formed by evoking memories of past “witch-hunts” where UP professors and students were branded as communist supporters. Similarly, the University of San Carlos (USC) was once linked to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Such instances, along with other cases of red-tagging, have been chipping the country’s democratic spaces away since former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration from 2016 to 2022.
Red-tagging in academic settings is nothing new and the persistent attacks only expose victims to unprecedented threats, harassment, and intimidation. Universities, traditionally spaces for free speech and intellectual expression, should be an avenue for meaningful and healthy political discourse, especially in the time of disinformation.
This narrative is supported by SU alumnus and Kabataan Partylist nominee Jose Paolo Echavez, when he said that the attacks of red-tagging on the comment sections only “proved the necessity of the People’s Forum.”
However, when push comes to shove, the administration must stand with its faculty, students, and alumni from abusive voices that might jeopardize their safety and rights. Consistent with what is stipulated in the student manual, “The students have the right to a university environment that is characterized by safety and order.”
The Weekly Sillimanian stands with the university in condemning all forms of red-tagging, harassment, or intimidation towards the students, faculty, and alumni in participating in important political discussions inside the campus. The publication also urges the administration to enforce university-wide policy to protect its stakeholders from such blatant attacks.
In the context of Silliman, red-tagging has never been a foreign occurrence. However, it is also not a new instance for the university to actively engage in political discussions. As we stand, SU is a breeding ground for critical thinking, civic engagement, and educated leaders.
