The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) condemned the current wages under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as “barya, barat, at makunat (stingy)." Izzy Lee, ABS-CBN News/FILE

MANILA (UPDATED) — The inclusion of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines in the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict has raised concerns of potential red-tagging, intimidation and surveillance in schools from groups that have been targeted by the task force.

In a statement on Saturday, ACT Teachers Party-List said the move, which includes planned "information campaigns" in schools, "poses serious threats to academic freedom" and could put students and teachers at risk.

"We strongly urge COCOPEA to reconsider its involvement with NTF-ELCAC and follow the example set by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in distancing itself from this agency," former ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio, who is also the party-list's first nominee, said.

Founded in 1961, COCOPEA is an umbrella organization of around 1,500 private schools. It aims to promote and protect academic freedom, quality education, and the holistic interests of higher educational institutions (HEIs).

"This is a dangerous development that follows the same playbook of red-tagging promoted by the NTF-ELCAC. It is now trying to legitimize its witch-hunting operations by co-opting private educational institutions through COCOPEA," Tinio also said.

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Kabataan Party-List warned allowing NTF-ELCAC into private schools will lead to repression of critical thought and free expression.

"Given NTF-ELCAC's history of red-tagging, will critical students opposing tuition and other school fee increase, no-permit-no-exam rules, and other repressive policies be further endangered?" Kabataan spokesperson Renee Louise Co, a lawyer, said.

In a separate statement, youth activist group Anakbayan said the move is "deeply irresponsible and threatens to create a culture of intimidation in spaces that should be avenues for critical thinking, open dialogue, learning, and free expression."

Anakbayan deputy spokesperson Mhing Gomez said COCOPEA should  "immediately retract its membership in the NTF-ELCAC and safeguard private schools from fascist state interference."

Artist group Panday Sining in a separate statement noted that "student organizations in private universities have not been consulted" on COCOPEA's affiliation with NTF-ELCAC, which it said made it a "blatant disregard [of] students’ rights."

The NTF-ELCAC regularly labels ACT Teachers Party-List and other part-lists in the Makabayan bloc, activist groups like Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Gabriela and Anakbayan, and other civil society organizations as "communist fronts"

Tinio said the task force's "track record of baseless accusations and human rights violations, including against students, teachers, and education sector workers, should be enough reason for any educational institution to reject such association."

NTF-ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr. on Friday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had approved the membership of COCOPEA in the task force, saying it "is not only for students but for Filipinos to exercise their right to an informed choice."

In a seeming rebuttal to Torres' claim that "red-tagging" is "legally inexistent", Tinio noted that the Supreme Court has already detailed the dangers of red-tagging.

"The Supreme Court itself has declared that red-tagging poses a threat to life, liberty, and security of its victims," he said.

"Educational institutions should be safe spaces for learning and critical thinking, not breeding grounds for fear and repression," Tinio added.