Rise For Education UP Cebu

04/05/2023

𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗔𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗨𝗦 𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗭𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡!

Tomorrow, May 5, 2023, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in coordination with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) will be conducting the first ROTC Games Orientation at the University of the Philippines Cebu. This orientation held within the campus will be attended by the CHED Chairperson and UP Board of Regents (BOR) Chairperson Prospero De Vera and Senator Francis Tolentino who is one of the top promoters of bringing back Mandatory ROTC. There will also be the presence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, stationed outside the campus to ensure the safety of the previously mentioned high-profile attendees of the orientation.

The ROTC Games itself came about after the AFP, the Philippines Sports Commission (PSC), CHED and Sen. Tolentino signed a joint agreement last December 2022 to conduct ROTC Games all over the country. The ROTC Games that is planned to be held within the campus of the University of the Philippines Cebu will allow the entry for 300 ROTC Cadets in civilian attire along with members from the AFP outside the campus premises. This event will feature Olympic-level sporting events which include athletics, swimming, boxing, arnis, weightlifting, kickboxing, etc. Despite its surroundings being “a boost on the development of sports programs and physical education”, in the same month that it was signed, the AFP also announced that these games will be used to promote the ROTC program in schools.

However, it has already been proven through time that the AFP has sinister motives behind seemingly cordial and civil events in schools. Such events are usually accompanied by the red-tagging of certain individuals and organizations within universities. Thus, it is a clear threat to the safety and security of students, faculty, and non-teaching personnel. Furthermore, the entry of the military into university campuses has been a contentious issue, particularly in schools known for their history of student activism such as the University of the Philippines (UP). UP has been a consistent target of red-tagging by the AFP, with students, faculty, and staff members being labeled as communists or terrorists without concrete evidence or due process.

The ROTC Games is being used to promote the ROTC program and encourage students of the university to join. This event normalizes the military’s presence on campuses and prepares students for the eventual implementation of the Mandatory ROTC (MROTC). Furthermore, the involvement of the military in campus affairs is especially concerning for students who are involved in activism or other forms of dissent. The AFP has a history of red-tagging and harassing UP students and faculty members. Allowing the military onto campus may provide them more opportunities to monitor and intimidate students who express dissenting opinions.

In addition to this, it is worth noting that UP Cebu is not the largest university in the city nor the UP System, making it even more perplexing why the ROTC Games Orientation is being held there. One possible explanation for this is the university’s history of political engagement in Cebu. Like other UP Constituent Units, UPC is one of the bastions of student activism. Therefore, we see this activity as a form of the experimental phase of the implementation of ROTC Games in other universities where resistance to MROTC is also strong.

With that being said, you too can make a difference in this movement against jeopardizing our academic freedom through the progressing institutionalization of campus militarization.

SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST THE MILITARIZATION OF DEMOCRATIC SPACES!
🔗bit.ly/NoToROTCGames
🔗bit.ly/NoToROTCGames
🔗bit.ly/NoToROTCGames

And to further show our solidarity in resistance to the presence of the military within institutions and the promotion of MROTC, let us invite our colleagues and friends to all
WEAR BLACK and ORGANIZE our ranks:

TODAY, MAY 4
1 pm | Email Blast and DP Blast
4 pm | Online Rally

TOMORROW, MAY 5
7 am | at UP Cebu Gate
9 am | in front of the Performing Arts Hall

The collective strength of each and every one of us brings us miles and beyond the fascist state's next move. Together, WE RESIST!