IN his landmark essay in 1966, the great historian Renato Constantino traced Philippine mal-development to one major cause: “Mis-education of the Filipino.” He wrote:
“Education is a vital weapon of a people striving for economic emancipation, political independence, and cultural renascence. We are such a people. Philippine education, therefore, must produce Filipinos who are aware of their country’s problems, who understand the basic solution to these problems, and who care enough to have courage enough to work and sacrifice for their country’s salvation.”
In brief, the thesis of Constantino is that the growth and progress of the country lie in an emancipatory educational system. This is an educational system capable of graduating students possessing the knowledge and skills to decipher the problems and development challenges facing the country in various fields of human endeavor—social, scientific, economic, cultural, political and so on—and to find the answers to these problems and challenges. Honing these knowledge and skills requires the existence of educational institutions that are fully dedicated to the search for knowledge based on a critical understanding of ourselves, the world we live in and our place within it.
We need educational institutions that promote critical thinking, reflected in the free yet rigorous inquiry, discourse, debate and dialogue on the problems haunting the nation. For this to happen, educational institutions, especially those of higher learning, must be able to foster an environment of critical and scientific inquiry free from outside interference and censure, as enunciated by Unesco and great universities worldwide. This is why University autonomy and academic freedom are essential in building this culture of critical thinking, which, in turn, is a key in advancing a nation’s progress in various fields of human endeavor. Academic freedom is the DNA that fuels debates and discourses on academic ideas, theories and models that eventually ripen into answers and solutions to society’s problems.
In this context, the recent abrogation by the Department of National Defense of the 1989 UP-DND Accord (as well as the PUP-DND Accord), which defines the protocols governing police/military incursions on campuses, is a blow to academic freedom and the environment of critical inquiry. Sadly, it also reveals the narrow understanding of the people in the military on the root causes of the continuing Philippine social and economic malaise and how to address them. It appears that some officials of the country equate education to a narrow program of skills development, rote learning and even simple indoctrination. Such educational policy framework is regressive. It is a threat to the development of critical thinking and has no place in the 21st century.
Hopefully, the Philippine military and police officials will find the wisdom to re-think their position. They can come out morally and politically stronger if they will respect and strengthen the UP-DND and PUP-DND accords. Better, they should initiate honest and critical dialogue with the academe and other sectors on the social and economic problems ailing the country and on what is the way forward for a Covid-stricken nation.
Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo is a Professor Emeritus of the University of the Philippines.