Published March 17, 2021, 1:48 PM At least 200 academics from universities in the Philippines and abroad jointly signed a unity statement urging the Philippine government to stop the attacks on and killings of activists. “As academics, we are duty-bound and morally obliged to stand against all infringements of basic human rights,” said Academics Unite for Democracy and Human Rights Lead Convener Ramon Guillermo in a statement issued Wednesday, March 17. “Academic freedom cannot thrive in an environment of fear and intimidation, for it rests on teachers’ and students’ unhampered exercise of their rights and liberties,” Guillermo, who is also the lead petitioner in the 29th case in the Supreme Court against the Anti-Terrorism Law of 2020, added.