The Office of the Student Regent (OSR) of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) submitted a letter to the office of PUP President Manuel M. Muhi on September 15 demanding an explanation for his role in the National Security Council’s (NSC) released Philippine Journal on National Security. The journal is titled “Target to Threat: The Psychology and Prevention of Terror Grooming.”

The journal was released under the lead of National Security Adviser Eduardo M. Año, who also serves as vice chair of the National Task Force (NTF)-Elcac. It discusses “terror grooming,” youth social media consumption, “responsible journalism,” and “responsible youth participation in society.” The NSC thanked and recognized Muhi and PUP for their “dedication to academic excellence in supporting the meaningful step of releasing the journal.”

According to PUP Student Regent John Paul Azusano, the journal’s topics focus on and target Filipino youth. It asserts that young people are easily manipulated through surveillance, disinformation, and distorted ideology.

“[These] are language that reflects, almost exactly, the constant vocabulary NTF-Elcac uses to label student activism, campus press, and resistance as recruitment for subversion,” Azusano said. He emphasized that this is precisely the danger laid out by the journal.

The student regent said framing “terror grooming” in this manner is not a neutral academic concept but a security lens that undermines political awareness, organizing, and protest. He added that the journal considers these youth activities as manipulation rather than the exercise of their rights enshrined and protected in the country’s constitution.

Azusano said PUP’s and Muhi’s recognition of this NSC and NTF-Elcac line is not simply support for “academic excellence” but a legitimized cover. “This is not academic freedom. It is a surveillance machinery dressed in the language of study,” he said.

The PUP OSR laid out five points it insisted President Muhi address. First, an explanation of the nature and scope of PUP’s and the president’s involvement in the journal. Second, clarification on whether there is a formal relationship or memorandum and funding between PUP and NTF-Elcac, NSC, or related institutions.

Third, a clear rejection of any framework that equates activism, organizing, or resistance with “terror grooming,” and the reaffirmation of PUP’s support for academic freedom and students’ constitutional rights. Fourth, support for student leaders and campus journalists who are being red-tagged and face state harassment. And fifth, the issuance of a statement that the university will never collaborate with NTF-Elcac or similar institutions.

“The students of this University have the right to know how the name, resources, and moral authority of their University are being used,” Azusano said. He added that the letter is not simply a “request” but a demand rooted in students’ right to information on public matters. The PUP OSR insisted on an immediate response to their letter.

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