Union of student leaders disowns Defensor

An organization of student leaders has disowned its former leader, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, for making "irresponsible if not downright despicable" statements in support of Proclamation 1017.

The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) took notice of Defensor’s earlier statements calling on the media "to practice restraint" in their coverage of developments in the country’s political scene.

"That someone who was once the national president of our organization could utter such statements dismays and infuriates us," NUSP president Marco de los Reyes said.

"We wonder how he could still bear to look at himself in the mirror," he said.

The NUSP is a national alliance of student councils and governments with a membership of 650 nationwide.

Since its establishment in 1957, the NUSP has been at the forefront of students’ struggle for their rights and welfare while pushing for the people’s struggle for genuine freedom and democracy.

De los Reyes said the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos had even banned the NUSP along with other youth organizations.

The NUSP went underground to fight against the dictatorship with the unwavering support of students nationwide, he said.

De los Reyes said the NUSP had played a crucial role in combating the rampant suppression of the voice of media.

"And now, Defensor who had once espoused the ideals of the youth and students for freedom of expression, is turning his back on those principles, and even being party to silencing the students and the people," Delos Reyes pointed out.

Defensor was NUSP national president from 1988 to 1989. He was vice president of the University of the Philippines student council when he was elected as national president during the annual national congress of the student union.

"Mr. Defensor has failed to live up to the NUSP tradition. We unequivocally disown him and we do not hesitate in erasing him from our history books," De los Reyes declared.

He said Defensor should now "shut up" and stop defending President Arroyo and her Proclamation 1017 which declared a state of national emergency following a foiled coup attempt. — Katherine Adraneda