Gwardya, Kamera, Aksyon

Gwardya, Kamera, Aksyon (A Public Forum)
Ang Tama Ba sa UP, Tama din sa Bayan?

DATE: 26 September 2012, Wednesday

VENUE: Pulungang Claro M. Recto (Faculty Center Conference​ Hall), Rizal Hall, College of Arts and Letters, University​ of the Philippine​s-Diliman

PROGRAM

9:00 - 9:15

REGISTRATION

9:15 - 9:20

WELCOME REMARKS

Neil Martial Santillan, PhD

Associate Dean for Administration and External Affairs

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines-Diliman

9:20 - 9:30

INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKERS

Filomin C. Gutierrez, PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Sociology

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines-Diliman

9:30 - 9:50

Winston T. Castelo (TBC)

Representative, 2nd District of Quezon City

15th Congress of the Philippines

9:50 - 10:10

Melania Abad-Flores (TBC)

Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs

University of the Philippines-Diliman

10:10 - 10:30

Edgardo E. Dagdag

Chief Security Officer

University of the Philippines-Diliman

10:30 - 10:50

Agerico M. De Villa

Associate Professor

Department of Philosophy

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines-Diliman

10:50 - 11:50

OPEN FORUM

11:50 - 12:00

SYNTHESIS

Filomin C. Gutierrez, PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Sociology

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy

University of the Philippines-Diliman

ABOUT THE FORUM

The recent string of violence in several UP campuses paved the way for the entry of new forms of anti-crime measures. With the launch of a technology transformation initiative dubbed eUP last March 2012, UP President Alfredo Pascual stated, among other things, that UP is already preparing the deployment of various technology solutions to address security issues in the different campuses. Such preparations involve the installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in strategic areas within the constituent units, aside from increasing the number of security guards and watchmen. Some have welcomed the impending installation of CCTV, calling it long overdue in the midst of what the media had portrayed as a near-system-wide crime wave in the last months. Others have deplored it, crying violation of student rights and academic freedom. Some even believe that CCTV cameras will serve as spy cameras to be used by external entities on the assumption that UP serves as a breeding ground for rebels and activists. Moreover, the cynical warn of the private sector's encroachment of the university's public space and the potential emergence of a security industry. This forum thus provides a platform for the debates on CCTV as anti-crime measure, particularly in UP campuses, which have been slow in coming. It seeks to examine UP's delicate balancing act--on how at a click of a camera, UP catches perpetrators in the act and in a zoom, rob its constituencies of their deserved anonymity while in a public space. Will UP think before it clicks and zooms in?