Students hit military presence in university campus

CEBU, Philippines — Some students from the University of San Carlos decry the presence of military personnel in one of their campuses this week.

Last September 8, progressive organizations Anakbayan (AB) USC and Students Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (STAND) USC posted on Facebook pictures of members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines inside USC-Talamban Campus.

In their statement, they emphasized that learning institutions like USC were considered peace zones and therefore, the military and their weapons had no place in their university.

“Butchers and violators of human and democratic rights like the AFP have no place in our universities,” AB USC wrote in their post. This post was later taken down by mass reports from Facebook users.

The USC University Student Council in a Facebook post clarified that the AFP visited their campus to attend a workshop on Geographic Information Systems. The troops that entered USC were part of the AFP 53rd Engineering Brigade.

“Hence, the presence of soldiers in our university is solely for educational purposes,” the student council wrote.

In their Facebook post, 53E Transformation Roadmap 2028 thanked USC for hosting the troop's knowledge as engineer-soldiers. USC is part of the Multi-Sector Advisory Board (MSAB) since 2015.

"... the recent GIS training from your University will greatly help these soldiers respond timely and immediately during the disasters and calamities that could save many lives," the post read.— FPL (FREEMAN)