EDITORIAL - Academic freedom?

The issue whether the police and military are allowed to enter and secure school campuses is not really an issue at all. It’s the prime duty of the authorities as part of their mandate to protect and serve everyone in this country.

The issue, instead, here is whether schools such as the University of the Philippines have the right to bar the police and other law enforcement agencies from their premises during incidents that need investigation.

UP, for example, has a policy that prevents the police and military from entering its campuses unless there is approval from the school administration. Of course, any school can bar them if their presence affects the conduct of classes.

However, while the UP and other government universities refuse police and military entry, they allow left-leaning organizations to freely roam around indoctrinating students on their causes, something that does not sit well with Senator Ronald Dela Rosa.

For Dela Rosa, it’s very unfair for state universities and colleges to allow leftist groups to freely go around campuses in their recruitment drive and refuse police and military presence for fear of abuses.

One may criticize the move of the senator, a former police chief, as a sign of a plan for the militarization of government schools. However, the neophyte lawmaker has a point in the wake of the massive activism in government universities and colleges influenced by the communist movement.

The problem with UP and other government schools is that they tend to immediately hide under the cloak of academic freedom their move against police and military presence as if the rigid indoctrination waged by the leftist organizations did not seriously affect the studies and lives of students, many of whom would then opt to embark on armed struggle against the government.

If these schools truly care for the welfare of their students, then why are they allowing some of their students to be brainwashed by rebel causes that only entice many to go underground? Just because such is under the name of academic freedom?