The Administration of the University of the Philippines (UPMin) will not stop students from holding rallies during the Palarong Pambansa 2019.
Vice Chancellor for Administration Aurelia Luzviminda Gomez said they will not stop the students from holding a rally because it is part of “academic freedom.”
The institution, she said, could not stop the students from holding gatherings.
“(We) cannot tell the students that ‘no, you could not hold rallies’, regardless of the circumstances whether there is a president coming or whoever,” Gomez said.
She added: “I have to be upfront that we cannot give the assurance that there will be no placards.”
“I want to clarify that while there are rallies, they don’t represent the majority,” Gomez said.
“They are a very, very small minority.”
Whether rallies will be held or not, Gomez said they are confident that UP students will not disrupt the event.
“I am confident that our students our disciplined enough so they may go rally or have placards, but that’s the most that they will do,” she said.
“I can give the assurance that they will not create a scene just to disrupt the event just because the president is there. I think they are also conscious that this is Davao City and this is a national event,” she added.
Gomez said there was no student rally during the Davao Region Athletic Association (Davraa) 2019 held last month.
“Based on Davraa, when the president was expected to come, there was no incident (of rallies),” she said.
