Atty. Mel Sta. Maria is the resident legal analyst of TV5. He is Dean of the FEU Institute of Law. He also teaches at the Ateneo School of Law and daily co-hosts the program 'Relasyon' on Radyo Singko 92.3 News FM.
In a news-post of September 17, 2014, the Inquirer.net reported that “Budget Secretary Florencio Abad was mobbed by protesters Wednesday night after a forum in the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.” The report continued: “According to Vencer Crisostomo, chair of Anakbayan, UP students hurled their placards, crumpled papers and coins at Abad when he exited the auditorium of the UP School of Economics.” The report went on: Abad “could not easily enter his car and his vehicle was blocked” and “as he boarded his vehicle, a student got close and grabbed him from the back by his collar.” This incident was confirmed by Secretary Abad in a statement published in the website of the Official Gazette. When I read all these, I was in disbelief. It is difficult to comprehend that the deplorable acts were done by UP students, our “iskolars ng bayan”. Could they really have been UP students? The loathsome acts described seemed to me to have been perpetrated more likely by hoodlums who infiltrated UP, pretended to be students and just cowardly vanished into the night. They could have easily been professional troublemakers paid to shout invectives and cause mayhem. But as I continue in my disbelief, the more I wonder: what if these violent students were really UP students? Is that really possible? Then it got me thinking about violence in fraternities. Fraternities thrive in educational institutions like UP and have been associated with violence, whether, illegally, as part of their initiation rites or whenever they “encounter” rival fraternities. True, where fraternities are involved, students whether from UP or elsewhere, have had their share of violence. I also thought of September 21, 1972. President Ferdinand Marcos, a UP cum laude graduate and bar-exam topnotcher, declared Martial Law all over the Philippines. This act ushered in the most violent times in Philippine history after the Second World War--- leading to "summary execution, torture, enforced or involuntary disappearance and other gross human rights violations” as recognized by Republic Act No. 103688, or the " Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013”. Marcos closed Congress, where peaceful dialogue and debates for change and reform were the norm ---- where learned men and women knew that the path for effective and long-lasting conflict-resolution can only be by peaceful and well-thought- of advocacies. Exchange of words may be contentious, annoying and angrily loud at times, but that was all there was for antagonism ---- no physical violence as a means to convince, not even an urge. The late President Marcos, brilliant as he was, chose the path of brute force and violence. He declared Martial Law --- a horrible response to peaceful dialogue and a despicable strategy to silence his opponents. But violence in fraternities and violence perpetuated during the Martial Law years, though abhorrent, are quite different from what happened this week. Secretary Abad was invited for a dialogue and he went to UP certainly thinking that his security will not be compromised. UP is a haven of civil and intelligent discourse where even an opposing view, detestable as it may be to some, is welcomed, respected and, more importantly, protected. Physical harm was not an expectation. There was no occasion for such scenario. Or so Secretary Abad may have thought. Well, so did I. As far as I know, what UP students can hurl at you are sharp and intelligent arguments and plausible contradicting views, but, to drive home a point, they will never inflict physical harm to anyone, especially an invited guest. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.” Indeed, a protest reaches a level of high credibility and acceptability when it is conducted with dignity. And that does not necessarily mean the absence of scathing words and hurtful language. But surely, it means the absolute non-use of physical violence as a tactic for persuasion. Respect begets respect. Disrespect begets disrespect. I would like to think that the UP students (if they were really UP students) involved in this shameful violent incident represent only a miniscule part of the university’s student community. I hope they change their ways. Anyway, I am still happy that a portion of my hard-earned money paid as taxes goes to the University of the Philippines to answer for the costs of education of our “iskolars ng bayan.” Many of them will be future leaders of our country --- leaders who would use reason and critical thinking, words to persuade, rather than physical violence to intimidate opponents into submission and fear. This is an ideal that I wish all our young people would embrace, and I raise my expectation just a tad higher for those who have the opportunity to enjoy an outstanding educational environment subsidized by the citizenry, where issues are freely discussed, critical thinking is excellently cultivated and being different is not a barrier to expressing oneself.
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