Students from Pampanga State University (PSU), formerly Don Honorio Ventura State University (DHVSU), reported incidents of red-tagging against civic organizations during a security awareness seminar under the National Service Training Program (NSTP), September 6.

According to the accounts reported in an official statement by The Industrialist, PSU’s official student publication, audio-visual presentations from the seminar presented and labelled progressive groups and organizations as anti-government fronts which recruit students. 

These groups included the Kabataan Partylist (KPL), Gabriela Partylist, College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), League of Filipino Students (LFS), among others.

Furthermore, according to an attendee of the seminar, one clip during the seminar presented a video of Jaypee Cabral, former spokesperson for the Anakbayan Central Luzon and former Editor-in-Chief of The Angelite at Holy Angel University (HAU).

In the seminar, the speaker considered Cabral as a “terrorist,” stating that he and the Anakbayan Partylist allegedly recruit and brainwash the youth to join them.

“Along the lines sabi ng speaker, ‘ayan nagre-recruit siya ng mga kabataan with nonsense against the government.’ Na considered nga siyang terrorist,” a seminar attendee, who requested anonymity, recalled.

According to them, it was followed by the speaker emphasizing that activist groups brainwash the youth to think that the government does “nothing but make mistakes.”

“Hindi ang gobyerno ang mali, ‘yong mga bata ‘yong mali. Ginagawa nilang big deal ‘yong every small detail na kalat on social media,” the speaker reportedly stated.

During the program’s question-and-answer portion, attendees reported that a speaker urged students to “focus only on their studies” and avoid involvement in the ongoing flood control project issue.

“Estudyante pa lang kayo, hindi niyo pa concern ang flood control projects… Unahin ang pag-aaral kaysa sa mga issue,” the speaker said. 

Student attendees further recall being discouraged from joining civic participation since “it will ruin their lives,” accompanied with a documentary of a youth dying after joining activist and progressive civic organizations.

In response, students voiced out their concerns contrary to the speaker’s message. 

“Daming nag-protest na students sa kanya saying na we have every right na magsalita and it is our concern to begin with.”

Anakbayan DHVSU speaks up against red-tagging

Anakbayan DHVSU issued a statement condemning the red-tagging of legal progressive organizations that underwent during the seminar.

They described that “black propaganda” was given to the attendees as the seminar painted progressive organizations as allegedly tied to terrorism.

Furthermore, the youth group cited that the segment was an attempt “to condition” PSU students to be silent and to not publicize the problems they experience within the university.

“Ang pagboses ng suliranin ng mga estudyante ay hindi terorismo. Kaming mga iskolar ng bayan ay hindi papayag na busabusin ninyo at patahimikin,” Anakbayan DHVSU stated on September 6 in their official Facebook page.

They also issued a call to the University Student Council Regent of PSU to stand with students and address the actions of the university.

The Industrialist, CEGP denounces seminar, cites press freedom 

In its official statement, The Industrialist stated the importance of student engagement in social, political, and civic discourse, stressing that attempts to silence them “undermine both their democratic rights and their role as critical thinkers.”

“Today, when corruption and human rights violations are laid bare in society, silencing students from engaging in these realities only deepens the crisis,” it stated.

“Any attempt to equate activism with terrorism, or to red-tag progressive groups and individuals, is a direct assault on civil liberties,” the publication added.

Moreover, The Industrialist emphasized  that discouraging students from engaging and questioning undermines press freedom.

“A free and critical press, whether campus-based or national, depends on citizens who are informed, engaged, and unafraid to speak truth to power,” said the publication.

On this note, the CEGP issued a statement describing how terror-tagging forums disguised as seminars heavily undermine the rights of students and threaten campus press freedom while also emphasizing the injustice that red-tagging creates for progressive organizations.

“The Guild condemns the unjust labeling of our institutions as ‘terrorists,’ as if it were a price to pay for collectively hold[ing] the Marcos Jr. administration accountable amid massive corruption and the plunder of public funds,” the Guild stated September 7 on their official Facebook page.

A call to remove Philippine terror laws, the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD), eviction of military offices in schools, and dissolution of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) were then reiterated by the Guild.

Additionally, despite the importance of security awareness, the publication emphasized that it should not come at the expense of democratic freedoms, civic participation, or the student right to critically engage with social issues that shape the country and their future.

“Security awareness and social consciousness are not opposing values — they must go hand in hand to produce citizens who are both vigilant and engaged,” the publication stated.

The Industrialist is currently holding further investigation regarding the matter and is urging PSU students who attended the seminar to come forward and report any accounts, experiences, and observations to help the publication in making a more comprehensive report.