11/05/2026
OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE 46TH UPV USC ON THE RED-TAGGING INCIDENT DURING THE RECENT UPV ROTC GRADUATION CEREMONY IN JAMINDAN, CAPIZ
In the recently concluded graduation ceremony of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) held at the 3rd Infantry Division at Jamindan, Capiz, students reported that the program included red-tagging of students and baseless accusations of recruitment by legal progressive formations and organizations. These organizations have long been instrumental in arousing awareness among youth, students, workers, and peasants on societal issues towards mobilizing them for societal change. It has long been asserted that red-tagging threatens their constitutional right to security, life, and safety. Through these tactics, the ROTC is utilized as a propaganda scheme of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to instill fear and doubts in students, rather than provide them with critical perspectives on the state and invoke genuine nationalism.
This is only one of their many tactics to dull the critical thinking skills of scholars. As seen in their long history of violence and oppression, they do not hesitate to file sedition cases to student activists and may even resort to indiscriminate massacres of civilians and people. Occurring only 20 days after the death of UP Diliman Education and Research Councilor Alyssa Alano and the injustice of the Toboso 19 massacre, the military has yet again shown their true colors of serving the interests of the corrupt state, rather than serving the people. We reiterate that genuine service to the people is not by firing bullets at them and intimidation but rather learning their realities through immersion and integration with the basic masses.
The 46th UP Visayas University Student Council strongly condemns the manipulative means of the 3rd Infantry Division to undermine the genuine calls of mass organizations and deceive students into believing otherwise. Such acts only serve the interests of hacienderos and big-time CEOs of corporations that hoard the land and fail to address the roots of armed struggles. We denounce all acts of red-tagging and terror grooming of the state to students, as it only perpetuates the system of oppression, landlessness, and hunger that the basic masses face. Instances such as the recent graduation ceremony strengthen the reasons why the military is not welcome on our campuses. We once again raise the call to end all deals and partnerships with the military and deinstitutionalize their involvement with the University of the Philippines, the national state university that is mandated to serve the people.
The 46th UPV USC is calling on the UPV Administration for their swift response to the red-tagging incidents of last Saturday. The incident is yet again another reminder on the importance and necessity of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Human Rights (CAFHR) to convene at the soonest possible time. The university's decisive will to end collaborations with the military is now urgent more than ever if they truly wish to condemn all acts of red-tagging and military intimidation.
