Kabataan Partylist, Makabayan push academic freedom bill amid red-tagging, repression 

The Kabataan Partylist and Koalisyong Makabayan filed House Bill (HB) No. 11678 or the Academic Freedom Act of 2026 on October 12, seeking to mandate academic freedom protections amid escalating repression.

This follows the October 5 suspension of four student-activists by the University of Santo Tomas (UST) following an April 21 confrontation over a Philippine Air Force exhibit during the university’s founding anniversary.

Among the suspended students were Kabataan Partylist – UST Chapter Spokesperson and content creator Raven Racelis, alongside UST Central Student Council public relations officer Mecaella Capalar, who faces removal from office.

Human rights group KARAPATAN publicly condemned the UST administration’s actions, describing it as “a violation of the right to protest and free expression.”

“We stand with the UST students in their struggle against this latest act of repression that adds to the growing number of attempts by the state to suppress the people’s right to protest,” in a Facebook statement.

HB 11678 was also filed in response to the September 21 red-tagging of former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokespersons Antonio Parlade Jr. and Lorraine Badoy during the UP Day of Remembrance at the University of the Philippines Rural High School (UPRHS).

UPRHS also condemned the incident, deeming it “deeply concerning that a legitimate educational activity and those who participated in it have been subjected to red-tagging.”

On October 6, Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co, Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago, and ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio filed House Resolution No. 1512 formally requesting a congressional inquiry into the incidents and the “alarming escalation” of campus repression.