US embassy cable - 05MANILA3788

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 003788 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/PMBS, EAP/PD, R/ECA, INR/EAP, INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, PINR, KISL, SOCI, RP 
SUBJECT: STUDENT ACTIVISM IN THE PHILIPPINES:  STILL A 
FORCE, BUT LESS SO 
 
REF: A. MANILA 3231 
     B. MANILA 2840 
     C. 05 MANILA 5552 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Counselor Joseph L. Novak 
for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (C) Summary:  Student activism in the Philippines has 
long been a political force and it remains one.  This is 
particularly the case at state-funded universities, where 
many students are involved in politics, including the effort 
to oust President Arroyo.  Private university students play 
less of a political role, with only a small minority involved 
in politics.  The left remains active in state-funded 
universities, though the number of students joining the 
Communist Party appears to be in decline.  Muslim students 
have their own groups, but few Muslims appear to be involved 
in extremist, anti-U.S. politics.  Although student politics 
remains alive and well, it appears to be less of a force at 
this time, with more students focused on getting ahead 
professionally in a global world.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Activism a Force at State Schools 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Student activism in the Philippines has long been a 
political force and it remains one.  (Note:  This message 
focuses on university-level students.  There is some activism 
among high school students, but to a much lesser extent.  End 
Note.)   This is particularly the case at state-funded 
universities, such as the University of the Philippines' main 
campus located at Diliman in Quezon City, metro Manila. 
"UP," as it is called, is the largest and most prestigious 
school in the country, with approximately 24,000 students. 
While it is difficult to estimate their exact number, many UP 
students are involved in politics.   There are, for example, 
on campus political groups linked to the independent election 
monitoring group National Movement for Free Elections 
(NAMFREL), the "Be not Afraid" movement (led by Opposition 
Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson), and a group of students loyal 
to former president Joseph Estrada.  Leftist groups, such as 
Bayan Muna, Migrante, Gabriela and the National Union of 
Students of the Philippines (NUSP), are also active.  The 
League of Filipino Students, which is linked with the left, 
has traditionally been influential in the UP student 
government and currently controls the student council (see 
below for more regarding leftist groups on campus). 
 
3.  (U) In addition to UP-Diliman, campuses of UP located in 
other parts of the country, such as Baguio, Los Banos, and 
Mindanao, have reputations for political activism.  Students 
from UP (Baguio), for example, have participated in marches 
in support of striking sugar cane workers at the Hacienda 
Luisita plantation in Tarlac Province located north of Manila 
(ref c).  Another state-funded university that is known to 
have many students active in politics is the Manila campus of 
the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. 
 
4.  (SBU) Students from state-funded universities have been 
well represented in the effort to oust President Arroyo. 
Approximately 10,000 students (most of them from public 
universities) attended a July 13 rally in Makati in metro 
Manila to demand the resignation of President Arroyo (ref a). 
 As with student participation in other rallies, many of 
these students were from the left, although a fair number 
were supporters of mainstream Opposition groups.  Students 
from UP also played a key role in disseminating audio clips 
from the controversial wiretapped recordings of President 
Arroyo's conversations with a serving Commission on Elections 
(COMELEC) official in the aftermath of the May 2004 elections 
(ref b).  League of Filipino Student members, for example, 
created a mobile phone ring tone from a short clip of the 
tapes, which they uploaded to the Internet.  The ring tone 
proved wildly popular and thousands of Filipinos downloaded 
it onto their cell phones within days, much to the 
embarrassment of the government. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Private School Students Steer a Different Course 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
5.  (C) Private university students play less of a political 
role, with only a small minority involved in politics. 
Several student leaders at private universities have told us 
that they and their classmates are largely apathetic toward 
politics, preferring to focus on their studies.  Private 
universities in the Philippines, such as Ateneo de Manila 
University, De La Salle University, the University of Santo 
Tomas, and the University of Asia and the Pacific, are 
expensive and students want to get their money's worth out of 
their educations.  Bernie Villegas, the Vice President of the 
University of Asia and the Pacific, told Acting Pol/C 
recently that students at his university were mainly focused 
on getting their degrees so that they could compete for jobs. 
 
 
6.  (SBU) Another reason that students at private schools 
tend to be less drawn to politics is that most of these 
schools are run by Catholic orders.  In general, these orders 
ask students to focus on their studies and they frown on 
active engagement by students in politics.  There are 
exceptions to this general rule.  For example, the La Salle 
brothers, who run De La Salle University, publicly asked for 
President Arroyo's resignation in June.  It is believed that 
the brothers have close links with former president Corazon 
Aquino, who came out against Arroyo in July.  On the other 
hand, the Jesuit priests who run Ateneo have not backed 
either side during the ongoing political infighting, defying 
the order's international reputation for political activism. 
The Opus Dei members who run the University of Asia and the 
Pacific are also not known to get involved in day-to-day 
political issues, although they do sometimes publicly discuss 
Church positions on such issues as family planning. 
 
----------------------- 
Leftist Students Active 
----------------------- 
 
7.  (C) The left remains quite active at state-funded 
universities.  As noted above, leftist groups, such as Bayan 
Muna, Migrante, Gabriela and the National Union of Students 
of the Philippines (NUSP), are active at most UP campuses. 
These groups are legal, some have representation in Congress, 
and they have been very involved in the anti-Arroyo effort. 
These groups are also linked with the Communist Party of the 
Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA).  The number of 
students gravitating toward direct membership in the CPP/NPA 
appears to be in decline, however.  Students at Manila 
university campuses have told Emboffs that the CPP/NPA 
continues to recruit on campus, but that few students join 
up.  This stands in contrast to the situation in the 1970s 
through the 1980s, when many students -- spurred on by the 
struggle against the Marcos dictatorship -- left school and 
joined NPA forces fighting in the jungle.  Mission has heard 
that some students still join the NPA.  Pol FSN has told us 
that when she was a student at UP (Los Banos) from 1995-99 a 
handful of students left school to join the NPA.  However, 
the numbers were low. 
 
--------------- 
Muslim Students 
--------------- 
 
8.  (C) Muslim students have their own groups at 
universities.  Many Muslims at universities in Mindanao, such 
as Mindanao State University in Marawi, are members of the 
Ranao Council and the Bangsamoro Youth movement, for example. 
 Such groups tend to focus on local issues, including peace 
and development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao 
(ARMM), as opposed to national political issues.  Many Muslim 
students are also actively involved in local NGOs working on 
conflict resolution and development issues, such as GAWAD 
Kalinga (an NGO that builds housing in poor areas) and Bantai 
Ceasefire (an NGO that works to reduce tensions in conflict 
areas in Mindanao).  Students who work for these NGOs have 
told poloff that they see such work as a way that they can 
"contribute to the Bangsamoro (Filipino Muslim) cause."  Not 
coincidentally, many students parlay their volunteer 
experience while in school into paying jobs with NGOs after 
graduation. 
 
9. (C) The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Muslim 
insurgent group, is active on campuses in Mindanao, although 
it does not seem to have a dedicated student group.  Some 
students work for the Bangsamoro Development Agency, a 
MILF-linked NGO focused on economic development in Mindanao. 
Terrorist organizations like Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu 
Sayyaf Group appear to have no toehold at the 
university-level. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
10.  (C) Although student politics remains alive and well, it 
appears to be less intense at this time, with more students 
focused on getting ahead professionally in a global world. 
In the late 1960s, '70s, and '80s, students in state-funded 
schools were very engaged in politics, especially in 
left-wing politics and the effort to remove Marcos from 
power.  Students in that timeframe were an important force 
and the GRP had to reckon with them in terms of rallies and 
street demonstrations.  Today, while some students are 
engaged politically and participate in rallies, students 
overall are no longer as vital a political force as they once 
were.  The left maintains some strength in this area, but it 
has suffered as the attraction of Communist ideology has 
faded.  Trends among Muslim students need continued 
monitoring, but so far anti-U.S. extremism does not seem to 
have gained much of a beachhead. 
 
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JOHNSON