DAVAO CITY, Philippines – What was supposed to be a meeting between the University of the Philippines Mindanao (UP Min) student leaders with their alumni turned into a red-tagging forum with an alumna/ex-New People’s Army rebel.
The UP Min Council of Student Leaders (CSL) denounced the incident where UP Min graduate Arian Jane Ramos appeared as a “surprise guest” in their TAGBO 2025 panel talk with alumni held at GAP Farm last October 26.
Ramos is a self-confessed NPA leader with the alias Ka Marikit who surrendered to the military in North Cotabato in August 2021, and is now president of Kalinaw Mindanao Southeastern Mindaano, an organization of ex-rebels linked with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
In their statement, the student leaders said Ramos’ appearance as “unsolicited ” as the only alumni invited for the panel was Wardy Puyod. They said it was Puyod who invited Ramos to the panel.
The CSL said their event was supposedly to discuss about empowering student leaders with values and skills but the talk given by Ramos was contrary to their agenda.
“Instead of cultivating empowerment, the activity was cast by remarks sowing fear and distrust among participants,” their statement said.
Ramos’ talk, which lasted nearly two hours, centered on her life from being a student activist to becoming a “former insurgent”.
Many of the participants later walked out as they felt intimidated when the security forces brought by Ramos started taking their photos.
The CSL said this move was a clear measure of rejecting Ramos’ message that “irresponsibly claimed that student organizations engaging in advocacy work are ‘linked to communist groups’ and asserted that youth leaders who speak out against injustices are being ‘recruited into armed movements.’ Statements suggesting that joining campus formations, volunteering for mass campaigns, or simply exercising one’s right to organize places a student ‘under surveillance’” are not only ungrounded but also deeply harmful.”
They also called out their Office of Student Affairs for the way it facilitated this activity that allowed Ramos to disrupt their leadership training. They called this incident “a serious breach of student safety and trust”.
“The Council of Student Leaders calls for the Office of Student Affairs to be fully transparent and accountable in its facilitation of TAGBO and future programs moving forward. The absence of due consultation and the decision to withhold information regarding the event details, specifically the background of the speakers, reveals a lapse in judgment that endangered students instead of empowering them,” they said.
“What should have been a space for honing leadership was instead transformed into a red-tagging spree and a venue for indoctrination, derailing the core purpose of TAGBO 2025 entirely,” the group said.
The CSL further said that what transpired is not an isolated incident, as military agents have been reportedly surveilling student leaders in the campus. They said they have raised this concern in their 11-Point UP Mindanao Student Demands.
“The Council of Student Leaders stands firm that no student must ever be placed in a situation where their identity, activism, or commitment to serving the people is framed as a threat…We remain resolute in ensuring safe learning environments and upholding the dignity of every UP Mindanao student. We will continue to resist all attempts of red-tagging and stifling dissent in any student space, reaffirming that all programs involving the university’s constituents are avenues for empowerment, not intimidation,” the student leaders said.(davaotoday.com)
