Mandatory Militarism
and police-ization of the universities and colleges?
NO WAY!
and police-ization of the universities and colleges?
NO WAY!
a work by Katleah Iskre Ulrike
Yesterday, we heard news regarding the attempts of the fascist military to force students to require military service in the Universities. As they endorsed the moves by the defense department to revive and once again make the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) mandatory for all able bodied-male college students.
This attempt is somewhat a reversal of the 2002 Congress, as it passed a law making ROTC in all colleges and universities optional following alleged corruptions involving the military program highlighted by the murder of an ROTC cadet Mark Chua of the University of Sto. Tomas a year before as well as the protests against mandatory military service in colleges and universities all over the Philippines, and instead be declared optional alongside civic welfare service as an alternative.
As military spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said:
“As a whole, the AFP believes it (ROTC) should be mandatory,”
his statement followed the other day’s pronouncement by Defense Secretary and former AFP official Voltaire Gazmin, that making ROTC mandatory once again would help bring back discipline.
And aside from parroting the fascist Gazmin spoke of, Mabanta said:
“Aside from discipline, we are talking about patriotism and love of country here,”
But despite the parroting of statements, Mabanta acknowledged that under the present circumstances while the AFP really sees the need to make the ROTC mandatory, it can only be done if Congress will revise and repeal a law making the program optional.
But then,
Despite the parroting of attempts in reviving mandatory militarism and police-ization of the universities and colleges, both state and private, they may also expect greater opposition from the students, especially after the 2002 incident involving the curriculum itself-a subject of humiliating, unequal treatment over the neophyte trainees of the said subject.
In addition to that, the imposition of mandatory militarism, in the form of ROTC and other military-related concepts over the studentry, does not really inculcates patriotism, otherwise, it inculcates collaboration with the rotten system- as well as its attempts to curb out "dissent" in the form of legal struggles.
as according to Anakbayan's national vice-chairperson Anton Dulce:
“With the resurgence of campus protests against tuition and other fee increases, as well as other unjust policies by school administrations, we fear that the mandatory ROTC will be used as a weapon against students who are fighting for their rights.”
and according to the Anakbayan statement made last August 3, 2010:
"In the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman last 2006, suspected ROTC officers and SIN members distributed pamphlets which discouraged students from opposing the then-proposed 300% Tuition Fee Increase, accusing the leaders of the anti-fee increase protests as ‘recruiters for the New People’s Army’."
If that's the case, are these soldiers really wanting students to train as reserve soldiers defending the country? Or making them into intelligence agents serving the rotten system alongside the militarization of universities, colleges that violates academic freedom as well as mercenaries defending the interests of the "state"?
The same thing was also done in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ Sta. Mesa campus in 2007. Wherein student leaders who were active in opposing several administration policies, including the chairperson of the PUP Central Student Council, were portrayed as ‘NPA recruiters’ by crudely-written pamphlets distributed by ROTC officers and SIN agents.
And in UP Los Baños, pamphlets with similar content were distributed in the campus last July 29, hours after UPLB students walked out of their classes in protest against the UPLB administration’s policy of increasing the number of students per class in many subjects.
These hell-of-a-kind work, in a guise of a curriculum required before graduation does not really defend academic freedom as well as freedom of thought. The demonization of the legal left meant making police-ization while parroting statements like "defending democracy" and the like. Or putting them too much on the front line whilst the officers sitting on their camps and waiting for their reserves.
In addition to that,
ROTC and other military related jargons being forced upon to the people lies the same old objective of subjugating the people into the wishes of the rotten system in the guise of democracy. True, and as we expected this hell-of-a-kind mess to be lies the idea of blood-gushing, demonization, hate-mongering and mass-killing agenda of the fascist foe. Gorish, but true.
And thus,
We must oppose this hell-of-a-kind measure the fascists, wingnuts ought to do against the will of the people. More protests to come as the enemy ought to resurrect the corpse from the grave, then we will exorcise the dead till become ashes out of their scheme.
For it's simple:
mandatory militarism and police-ization of the universities and colleges? NO WAY!
This attempt is somewhat a reversal of the 2002 Congress, as it passed a law making ROTC in all colleges and universities optional following alleged corruptions involving the military program highlighted by the murder of an ROTC cadet Mark Chua of the University of Sto. Tomas a year before as well as the protests against mandatory military service in colleges and universities all over the Philippines, and instead be declared optional alongside civic welfare service as an alternative.
As military spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said:
“As a whole, the AFP believes it (ROTC) should be mandatory,”
his statement followed the other day’s pronouncement by Defense Secretary and former AFP official Voltaire Gazmin, that making ROTC mandatory once again would help bring back discipline.
And aside from parroting the fascist Gazmin spoke of, Mabanta said:
“Aside from discipline, we are talking about patriotism and love of country here,”
But despite the parroting of statements, Mabanta acknowledged that under the present circumstances while the AFP really sees the need to make the ROTC mandatory, it can only be done if Congress will revise and repeal a law making the program optional.
But then,
Despite the parroting of attempts in reviving mandatory militarism and police-ization of the universities and colleges, both state and private, they may also expect greater opposition from the students, especially after the 2002 incident involving the curriculum itself-a subject of humiliating, unequal treatment over the neophyte trainees of the said subject.
In addition to that, the imposition of mandatory militarism, in the form of ROTC and other military-related concepts over the studentry, does not really inculcates patriotism, otherwise, it inculcates collaboration with the rotten system- as well as its attempts to curb out "dissent" in the form of legal struggles.
as according to Anakbayan's national vice-chairperson Anton Dulce:
“With the resurgence of campus protests against tuition and other fee increases, as well as other unjust policies by school administrations, we fear that the mandatory ROTC will be used as a weapon against students who are fighting for their rights.”
and according to the Anakbayan statement made last August 3, 2010:
"In the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman last 2006, suspected ROTC officers and SIN members distributed pamphlets which discouraged students from opposing the then-proposed 300% Tuition Fee Increase, accusing the leaders of the anti-fee increase protests as ‘recruiters for the New People’s Army’."
If that's the case, are these soldiers really wanting students to train as reserve soldiers defending the country? Or making them into intelligence agents serving the rotten system alongside the militarization of universities, colleges that violates academic freedom as well as mercenaries defending the interests of the "state"?
The same thing was also done in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ Sta. Mesa campus in 2007. Wherein student leaders who were active in opposing several administration policies, including the chairperson of the PUP Central Student Council, were portrayed as ‘NPA recruiters’ by crudely-written pamphlets distributed by ROTC officers and SIN agents.
And in UP Los Baños, pamphlets with similar content were distributed in the campus last July 29, hours after UPLB students walked out of their classes in protest against the UPLB administration’s policy of increasing the number of students per class in many subjects.
These hell-of-a-kind work, in a guise of a curriculum required before graduation does not really defend academic freedom as well as freedom of thought. The demonization of the legal left meant making police-ization while parroting statements like "defending democracy" and the like. Or putting them too much on the front line whilst the officers sitting on their camps and waiting for their reserves.
In addition to that,
ROTC and other military related jargons being forced upon to the people lies the same old objective of subjugating the people into the wishes of the rotten system in the guise of democracy. True, and as we expected this hell-of-a-kind mess to be lies the idea of blood-gushing, demonization, hate-mongering and mass-killing agenda of the fascist foe. Gorish, but true.
And thus,
We must oppose this hell-of-a-kind measure the fascists, wingnuts ought to do against the will of the people. More protests to come as the enemy ought to resurrect the corpse from the grave, then we will exorcise the dead till become ashes out of their scheme.
For it's simple:
mandatory militarism and police-ization of the universities and colleges? NO WAY!
