Official Response of the UP Engineering Student Council

The UP Engineering Student Council stands as the highest representative body of the students
of the UP Diliman College of Engineering. Among our duties is convening the official alliance of
Engineering organizations. As of the 2nd Semester of AY 2020-2021, there are 39 Engineering
organizations officially recognized by the college administration or actively seeking recognition.
None of which are officially designated, named in reference to, or directly affiliated to the
Communist Party of the Philippines. In addition, we have no such history of a CPP branch in our
college or in any college in the University of the Philippines.

With this, NTF-ELCAC’s claim of the existence of a CPP branch in the College of Engineering is
categorically false​. We firmly believe this is yet another case of state-sponsored red-tagging
aimed at progressive individuals and groups to discredit their genuine service to the people and
defense of democratic rights. Our alumnus Chad Booc has chosen to serve indigenous
communities by becoming a volunteer teacher at the Lumad Bakwit School in Cebu. His only
agenda is to amplify the long-standing campaign of Lumad communities in defense of their
ancestral lands and against development aggression all over the country as well as uphold the
principles of academic freedom. It is with the guidance of this principle that our college
community respects and supports those who work towards actively dismantling the root causes
of poverty in our country, including those who have chosen the path of militant struggle.

In fact, in the middle of a global pandemic, the government has no business inflicting even more
hardship on their constituents. With the Philippines logging over half a million COVID infections
and ending 2020 with the worst economic performance in Southeast Asia, we would rather have
the government solve the health crisis with comprehensive, scientific solutions and uplift the
lives of the Filipino people as we continue to struggle through the pandemic. In their own
capacities, the Filipino people, including those in the engineering community, have been
designing, fabricating, maintaining, procuring, and distributing life-saving equipment, including
ventilators, disinfectants, and vaccine storage units, and we have yet to see the same effort
from the national government. Instead, they distract from the community’s efforts in bringing
forth people-centered development this country needs, including students like us who are
burdened by the remote learning set-up we have been forced into for almost a year now. In
reality, NTF-ELCAC is one of many arms of the national government clearly designed to distract
from the incompetence and negligence of the sitting administration to address the real issues
facing our country. Besides, red-tagging and propagating false claims will not hasten the
procurement of vaccines or bring food to the tables of Filipino families; it only further terrorizes
the people.

UP ESC condemns the NTF-ELCAC’s false claim and the still existence of a task force aimed at
threatening the lives of the Filipino people and curtailing our democratic rights even in the
middle of a global health crisis. We call for the dissolution of NTF-ELCAC and the junking of
Executive Order No. 70. It’s time that the national government stops systematically and violently
silencing its people and starts listening to their demands.