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[Statement] #HandsOffSkimmers -UPV-USC, LCCS, and student organizations

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Human Rights Online Philippines One comment

Unity statement of UPV-USC, LCCS, and student organizations against the doxxing and harassment targeting members of the Skimmers Academic Organization by State-sponsored trolls of the Duterte administration

Last Wednesday, October 16, 2019, UP Visayas kicked off its Pahampang Season through the annual Cheering Competition where all academic organizations best each other through cheers that tackle social and political issues from the university administration level all the way to national and global scales.

For this year, Skimmers, the academic organization under the Division of Humanities, won 1st place. Their performance highlighted press freedom, media killings, and exploitation. It also took up issues on the West Philippine Sea, Rice Tarrification Law, CHED’s Memorandum that removed Filipino, Panitikan, and the Philippine Constitution as core subjects in college, and the government’s call for mandatory ROTC.

A video of Skimmers’ performance was uploaded on social media and immediately gained traction after certain groups and pages singled out a line in Skimmers’ cheer condemning the Duterte administration’s inaction over the Philippine claim on the West Philippine Sea.

The line’s satirical nature did not sit well with Duterte supporters as they took their threats and harassment to Facebook and launched different attacks against Skimmers and its cheerers. These threats are made more pressing and credible as the pages and groups supporting Duterte publicized some personal information of the Skimmers Governor and Skimmers adviser, making them a target.

The attacks intensified when Mocha Uson herself shared a snippet of the Skimmers’ cheer on her personal blog, with the caption “Let’s kill the President daw? Yan na ba talaga ang tinuturo nila sa University of the Philippines ngayon?”. The post in question has over 321,000 views and 2,000 shares at the time of writing, which has inspired Duterte supporters to send video threats to several Skimmers cheerers, post their photos without consent (which is a clear violation of the Data Privacy Act), and red tag the University along with its University Student Council.

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Statement

[In the news] UP Visayas community condemns threats against students after viral cheer routine -GMA news

Posted on October 21, 2019 by Human Rights Online Philippines Leave a comment

The University of the Philippines Visayas’ Student Council and other student organizations over the weekend said they “strongly condemn” the harassment received by UPV organization the Skimmers after their cheer critical of the Duterte administration’s policies went viral.

“With the increased instances of red-tagging by this oppressive state whenever the University raises awareness and action on societal issues, we will not and will never tolerate any kind of harassment or unjust behavior towards our constituents, whether we are facing a single troll or the whole Duterte administration. We won’t let this go unanswered,” the groups said in a statement.

The Skimmers became the target of online threats and harassment by pro-Duterte groups after their cheer, which highlighted social and political issues, went viral on social media last week.

The group showcased a cheer routine that criticized the Duterte administration and tackled issues such as media oppression and repression; the “red-tagging” of students and schools; the administration’s policy towards China regarding the West Philippine Sea; and the Rice Tariffication Law.