The University Days should serve as a break from the mentally-straining academic obligations of students, most especially now with the online mode of learning. It is an avenue for Angelites to exhibit their talents, engage the student body in relevant discourses, and express innovative ideas through debates, speeches, and TEDtalks, along with entertaining and stress-free events that will raise the morale of the Angelite community, especially under the Covid-19 pandemic.
Angelites should not adhere to a theme that forces them to promote the image of the university and be encouraged to be apolitical in the face of the worsening socio-economic crisis that is evident in our country.
The HAU Movie Review and Classification Committee (MRCC) that is handled by the university administration constrain artistic freedom among participants in the said event. Specifically mentioned in bullet number four: “The work tends to undermine the faith and confidence of the people in their government and/or duly constituted authorities.”
Censorship is an issue often left unnoticed, it should be made clear that criticisms and speaking truth to power is a constitutional right. Likewise, the deteriorating faith and confidence of the people in their government are not brought upon by artistic films but rather through bad governance and anti-people policies.
One of which is the TEDtalk competition with themes revolving around boosting the image of Holy Angel University such as; #88YearsofHAU, #UniverseInAUniversity, among others. This will essentially force participants to limit their inventive advocacies and regress to promoting the school.
Participants should be freely allowed to create content that will reflect the harsh realities of our present situation caused by the negligence of our government and duly constituted authorities. Moreover, to criticize them and provide alternatives for the betterment of our society.
