Military deal threatens academic freedom, say Filipino students

Students at a leading Filipino university fear increased surveillance and intimidation as a result of the institution’s new partnership with the country’s military.

In August, the University of the Philippines (UP) entered into a controversial agreement with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that will see the two parties collaborate on research, partnerships and “capacity-building initiatives”.

Since then, faculty and students alike have condemned the agreement for endangering them and jeopardising academic freedom.

Speaking to Times Higher Education, students involved in the Defend UP campaign – a network focused on defending academic freedom at the university – said such a partnership “interferes with UP’s autonomy and independence…tainting UP’s role as a social critic”.

The AFP is known for “red-tagging” individuals and organisations – labelling them as communists or anti-government activists – leaving those accused susceptible to attacks and persecution. This practice has extended to universities. In 2017, the AFP accused several universities of hosting communists who were recruiting students to help oust the president.

A few years after that, in 2021, the military was forced to apologise for releasing a list of UP alumni who, it claimed, were part of the New People’s Army, the military wing of the country’s communist party.

“The government, through the military and the police, wastes billions of their funds in red-tagging students and academics, haphazardly labelling activists and members of progressive organisations as ‘communist-terrorists’,” said Francesca Mariae Duran, lead student convener at the Defend UP Network.

“We fear that the true gains of the military in this partnership come from easier access to the systems and spaces of our university, leaving us more vulnerable to surveillance and intimidation.”

Members of the university’s council have also opposed the partnership, expressing “alarm” that the university’s president had entered into the agreement “without consultation”.

“The AFP’s announcement caught the university’s faculty by surprise,” they said in a statement. “This agreement endangers our faculty, staff and students, as well as our resources, spaces and proud history of activism.”

In a recent statement, the university attempted to reassure students and faculty, saying the declaration was “non-binding and exploratory”.

“Such an agreement, we maintain, is beneficial precisely because it provides a framework for the university to share its knowledge and expertise towards contributing to the broader advocacy for security sector reform in our country,” it continued.

“Moreover, the agreement may also lay the groundwork for opportunities to address outstanding issues between the university and the AFP.”

Academic freedom in the Philippines has been in decline in recent years, according to the global Academic Freedom Index.

Katrin Kinzelbach, a political science professor at Germany’s University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and author of the index, said that, in principle, “scholars and universities should be free to partner with others, including the military, to pursue their research”.

“However, academic freedom also includes the right to refuse or withdraw from research due to objections on ethical grounds. That is, individual scholars and universities as institutions must not be forced to collaborate with the military.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com