Malacañang clarifies its stand as against student protests.
The palace which have been peppered with criticisms from all
fronts by the opposition regarding the statement of the President that he will
replace protesting UP students with those from the Lumad communities in
Mindanao.
“Earlier today, they walked out. Go ahead,” President
Rodrigo Duterte said in reaction. “f you don’t want to go to school, get out of
there because I will bring [indigenous] students who are bright and put them
there. A lot of Filipinos want to have an excellent education.”
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| UP students activists (photo credit to Philstar) |
Malacañang is now making its stand on the matter very clear,
that it respects the decision of students of the
University of the Philippines (UP) to hold political protests, it also urged
them not to use it as an excuse to skip classes.
“Our position on
the right of peaceful assembly and street protest has not wavered,”
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.
Public displays
of constructive criticism, including youth participation in protest, “ are
allowed as part of full exercise of the citizens’ right to express their
grievances”, Roque said.
“We however hope
students will not skip or cut classes and use street protest as an excuse to
neglect their studies,” he added.
In the same press
briefing the spokesperson was also able to clear his name regarding the issue
that in his days as a UP Professor he encourages his students to skip classes.
Roque said that instead of holding classes inside
the classroom of the university, they were held in the streets to be
able to participate in rallies.
“I did not encourage them to skip class. What we did was we held class in the streets. That was not skipping classes,” Roque said.
Asked if he encouraged students to join protests during his teaching stint, he said it was a call for “critical thinking” in the university. *
The Presidential Spokesperson, reiterates that government authorities will always observe maximum tolerance and respect the protesters constitutional guaranteed right to peaceful assembly.
Report from PNA
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