Students press protest vs military on campus

Student groups vowed yesterday to step up their campaign against what they said was a "militarization of the campuses" with more protest rallies in the streets.

The Movement Against Campus Repression and Militarization, an umbrella organization of militant groups from various universities in Metro Manila, chided the government for deploying the Marines in malls and planning to detail them in colleges and universities.

The group is also rallying against the forthcoming Balikatan military exercises of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States Armed Forces in Central Luzon. "As it was during the Martial Law years, the prime duty of the Marines is to crate a climate of fear inside our campuses," said Amie Lazaurio Dural, who heads the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines and is one of the organizers of the group.

The movement, along with the College Editors' Guild of the Philippines and the League of Filipino Students, is holding a protest march on Mendiola on Monday for "a day of action for press freedom, human rights and peace."

According to the group, military intelligence officers are already making the rounds of campuses in the University Belt in Manila.

"Their duty would be to discourage and intimidate students from joining student actions against tuition fee increase, close student publications, ban student organizations and implement other repressive measures," said Dural. -