MANILA--Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday sided with the President Rodrigo Duterte's recent pronouncement that students who overtly support terrorist organizations may be validly dropped from the rolls of scholarship.
"The President's statements are legally correct. Mere affiliation or subscription to any leftist ideology is not unlawful; it's when you put this into action by joining or providing support (arms, supplies, recruits etc.) to armed groups seeking to overthrow the duly constituted authorities that makes you an enemy of the state," Guevarra told reporters in a message.
Guevarra underscored that freedom of speech, like freedom of the press, does not enjoy absolute protection.
"If once incites others to sedition, for example, he or she must face the consequences of the felonious act," he said.
"Scholarships are generally determined and maintained by academic standards, but some schools may require that the scholar has no pending case in court or other tribunal. So a scholar who is charged with a crime such as inciting to sedition will be prosecuted and may lose his/her standing as a scholar, depending on the requirements of his/ her particular school," Guevarra added.
President Duterte earlier said students in state-run schools may lose their eligibility for scholarships for overt acts of support for the communist rebels that aim to overthrow the government.
"If they espouse [support against] the very government feeding food on their mouth, they will lose that," Duterte was quoted as saying.
National Youth Commission chairperson Ronald Cardema previously asked the President to issue an executive order removing the scholarships of "all rebellious anti-government scholars" particularly those allied with communist rebels who have been involved in the killing of government troops. (PNA)
