REMINDERS FOR STUDENT ACTIVISTS. Real estate executive Chris Malazarte poses with former senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito in one of the business events he attended. Malazarte reacted on Thursday (August 22, 2019) to the walkout and snake rally done by the University of the Philippines Cebu students, saying that 'Makibaka!' is no longer an effective means to shape public policy. (Photo courtesy of Chris Malazarte Facebook page)
CEBU CITY -- A Cebuano business research expert, who was a student activist in his college days, has reminded students that the “Makibaka!” they chant is not an effective way to express positions to shape public policy.
Chris Malazarte, a vice president of a real estate company here, acknowledged having joined the League of Filipino Students (LFS) and National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), saying he “used to be exactly like them (student protesters) back in my college days.”
Malazarte was reacting to the walkout and snake rally staged by senior high school and college students of the University of the Philippines Cebu to allegedly “defend academic freedom against campus militarization” last Tuesday morning.
“I think they need to be permitted to do this for as long as they do it peacefully. It is part of free expression and academic freedom,” he said.
Malazarte observed that the student activists' actions nowadays are becoming annoying to the public senses.
“And as I begin to observe these same things today, they have become a nuisance to a lot of people. I laughed at the thought of the nuisance that I was once to people who were disturbed by what we were doing,” he said.
Malazarte pressed the student activists to assess their processes in accomplishing what they believe in.
“With all due respect to these young protesters, you can always hold on to what you believe but the means to accomplish them is something that you need to revisit,” he advised the students in his comment on a social media post.
“People today don’t care anymore about all these 'isms' you either hate or advocate,” he said.
“There is more to life than the 'pinaglaban natin', like virtue, respect, and love of family and friends. These are more desirable pursuits than the pursuit of change that radicalism demands,” he said.
He implored the young activists to be humble and kind and to make use of their lives in works that will make a difference.
“This life is fleeting as a blink of an eye. Make use of your youth to touch lives by simply being good and kind to others – they make pretty much a big difference than the difference that you seek that’s always very subjective, utopic and next to impossible,” he said.
The UP Cebu students’ walkout and rally that started inside the campus and later proceeded to Fuente Osmeña Rotunda joining other militant groups in a march to downtown Colon Street, was called “to defend campus militarization.”
It was officially endorsed by the college deans, headed by UP Cebu Chancellor Liza Corro and UP High School Principal Catherine Rodel.
"UP Cebu shall remain free from campus militarization, and shall protect its academic freedom and institutional autonomy. We shall remain a zone of peaceful discourse and academic pursuits, who can stand together and united in confronting any form of threat to our shared and treasured academic freedom," Dr. Weena Gera, UP Cebu Vice Chancellor for Administration, said in a statement posted on the UP Cebu University Student Council social media page.
Facebook user Khoi Despa said, "They (students) used freedom of expression to condemn their own government, knowing that (it's) our tax which paid (for) their scholarship.”
“During our times, we welcome the presence of the military in our campus, especially police, kasi feeling safe kami noon and proud pa (because we felt safe and proud of them). Now baliktad, mas welcome pa yata ang mga tulisan na mag-iimpluwensya sa mga estudyante (Now, it’s the other way around. They welcome the crooks who are influencing students),” Kenn Sy Villa, another netizen commented on a video. (PNA)
