Media groups condemned the reported attack on Philippine Collegian
by suspected government intelligence operatives late Saturday night, November
16.
The Union of Journalists of the Philippines-UP (UJP-UP) and the
People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya) said the incident is an act of intimidation
against the official student publication of the University of the
Philippines-Diliman.
In an alert, the Philippine Collegian reported that a certain
Wilfredo Manapat forcibly entered their office at around 9:30 in the evening at
the Sampaguita Residence Hall.
When confronted by Collegian staff members, Manapat reportedly said
he was there to “do an inspection as part of surveillance.”
Two of Manapat’s companions stood outside the building, the
Collegian said.
The Collegian staff immediately called up UP-Diliman chancellor
Michael Tan who apparently ordered the dispatch of campus police officers to
arrest the trespasser.
Manapat was subsequently brought to the UP-Diliman police station
and, when pressed, claimed he was merely looking for his colleagues.
“In light of
the recent attacks against the press, we stand with the Philippine Collegian
and denounce this blatant intimidation against student publications,” UJP
UP-Diliman, an association of mass communications students, said in a
statement.
“This is a clear attempt of state oppressors to unnerve media
entities that maintain a line of reportage reflective of the real social-political
situation of the public,” the group added.
Altermidya for its part said it views the incident as a brazen
attack on Philippine Collegian and the campus press.
The incident came a day after Interior and Local Government secretary
Eduardo Año warned that the National Youth Camp being held in UP might be used
by “communist front groups” to agitate and recruit students.
“We warn
Secretary Año, who himself is implicated in the enforced disappearance of Jonas
Burgos, against further labeling student organizations as communist fronts and
therefore treated as targets by state security forces. Red-tagging always
precedes grave human rights violations as we have seen in the recent raids and
arrests of activists,” Altermidya said.
Altermidya
pointed out that the Saturday’s incident was not the first time this year that
members of the campus press have been red-tagged and subjected to surveillance
and harassment by state security forces.
In August 2019, police visited the office of The Pillar of
University of Eastern Philippines and interrogated its editor-in-chief.
In Bicol, police officers also red-tagged campus journalists from
Ateneo de Naga University and Baao Community College, who were also officers of
the College Editors’ Guild of the Philippines.
“We stand in
solidarity with the campus press, and call on our colleagues in the media and
concerned citizens to denounce the State’s attempts to silence critics,”
Altermidya said. # (Raymund B.
Villanueva)
