MANILA, Philippines — The University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City on Friday condemned the killingg of one of its students during a miliatry "encounter" in Negros Occidental.
“Alyssa was widely admired by her peers and teachers as a decisive student leader with a sharp, critical mind that discerned the structure of injustice perpetuating the deep poverty and oppression of the landless farmers and agricultural workers of Negros. She understood how work in the student council intersected with service to the basic masses that sustain the education of the Iskolar ng Bayan. Through her work with progressive organizations, she learned that violence waged to silence the voices of truth and enrich those in power must always be met with resistance. This is the enduring lesson that took her from the lecture halls of the University to the sugarcane fields of Negros, where the sakadas then became her teachers. She will also be remembered for her warmth, generosity, and infectious energy that inspired all who knew her to live more fully,” according to the statement by the Committee on the Protection of Academic Freedom and Human Rights (CPAFHR).
The group said, "We cannot ever rejoice in the ‘triumph’ of a state that maintains the dehumanization of the poorest Filipinos and then snuffs out our brightest lights—supposedly to protect us. But protect us from whom? Systemic injustice and inequality are the biggest threats to our freedoms and rights. As long as they remain, it is our responsibility to confront their reality, dismantle their mechanisms, and bring their perpetrators to justice. The root of decades-long suffering on the island of Negros is the exploitation of sugarcane workers by powerful hacienderos, heightened by counter-insurgency military operations that seek to suppress dissent and organization through manifold killings and human rights violations throughout history.”
