DND chief vows to scrap accords with other schools

Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana revealed on Tuesday he would likely scrap pacts with other schools similar to the terminated agreement with the University of the Philippines (UP) after declaring that the country’s top government university has evolved into a veritable breeding ground for communist rebels.

“We are looking into other similar agreements to terminate them as well,” the defense chief as he defended his decision to end the 1989 DND-UP agreement, which prohibits the military and the police from carrying out operations within the compound of the university and any of its campuses around the country without a “prior” coordination with school officials.

Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo slammed the DND’s move, which, she said, was done as part of the effort “to ease apprehensions, not just within the UP community, but among the public at large, that the reign of violence and terror that held sway during the dictatorship had never really gone away.”

“The unilateral scrapping of the decades-old accord sends the opposite message: That under this administration, anyone, anywhere, at any time, is fair game,” Robredo said in a news statement released by her office.

“If this was simply about law enforcement, all the accord asks is that military authorities give notice to university officials before any operations in UP. This is neither a difficult nor onerous rule, and five Presidents since 1989 have managed to protect both the UP community and the Republic without breaking it,” the Vice President added.

‘Obsolete’

IN terminating the 1989 agreement by way of a January 15 letter to UP President Danilo Concepcion which was made public on Monday night, Lorenzana said “the country’s premier state university has become a safe haven for enemies of the state.”

“During the life of the agreement, the University of the Philippines has become the breeding ground of intransigent individuals and groups whose extremist beliefs have inveigled students to join their ranks to fight against the government,” the defense secretary said in statement released by DND spokesman Director Arsenio Andolong.

“The agreement has become obsolete. The times and circumstances have changed since the agreement was signed in 1989, three years after the martial law ended. The agreement was a gesture of courtesy accorded to UP upon the university’s request,” he added.

Lorenzana said the DND will “neither renege nor shirk on its duty to protect the rights of the majority. It will not tolerate those who will violate the laws of the land in the guise of lawful public dissent, free assembly and free speech. It is our sworn duty to protect the Filipino people.”

While Lorenzana said that they have determined that the agreement “does not serve the interests of the students,” he appealed to the UP community for both the DND and the school to work together in order to protect UP students from “extremism and destructive armed struggle.”

“The Department of National Defense only wants what is best for our youth. Let us join hands to protect and nurture our young people to become better citizens of our great nation,” he said.

Painful to forget

Robredo said the termination of the agreement was “not a practical gesture, but a symbolic one. One designed to sow fear. One designed to discourage dissent. One designed to silence criticism.”

“It is now up to us to decide whether we will give in. Or whether, at long last, we will stand our ground and speak out,” she said.

The Vice President said the DND-UP agreement was signed three decades ago as a safeguard in the aftermath of a “warrantless arrest of a staff member of the Philippine Collegian, the UP student paper, in front of Vinzons’ Hall, the student center, by operatives of the military.”

“This was in 1989, when the atrocities inflicted by the Marcos dictatorship and its armed agents on members of the university community—students, teachers, and residents alike—still burned vividly in the memories of many. When murder, torture, and abduction committed, not by those outside the pale of law, but by those operating openly under its aegis, was a reality too recent to deny, and too painful to forget,” Robredo said.

She said the agreement’s aim was not to exempt UP or its community from any law, “but to send the clear message that in a democracy, even a fledgling one, law enforcement was conducted following clear rules, within defined limits.”

“That in a democracy, there was no place for relentless war waged across all borders, without oversight or accountability, against any person those in power had decided to brand an enemy,” Robredo said.

‘Step backward’

Former Vice President Jejomar Binay condemned the “unilateral decision” to terminate the pact as he expressed fear that it exposes the students to greater danger and that it does not protect academic freedom and democracy.

“As someone who witnessed and experienced this witch hunt, I can say that this move is a step backward. It does not protect students. It exposes them to greater danger. It does not protect academic freedom and democracy. It undermines them,” Binay said in a statement.

In justifying its unilateral decision to terminate the UP-DND Agreement, Binay stressed, the administration is using rhetoric from the 1960s, when government conducted a “witch hunt” against student activists.

“Malaki na ang ipinagbago ng lipunan mula noon [There is a big difference from the society before]. We are more open to what used to be controversial ideas. We recognize the value of free exchange of ideas in strengthening democracy. Pero mukhang ang administrasyon, hindi pa maka-move on [It seems that this administration couldn’t move on],” Binay added.

“It is true that UP has produced known stalwarts of the Left,” he said but stressed, “It is has also given the country a long list of presidents, vice presidents, legislators, Cabinet members, government officials, scientists, artists, and business leaders.”

“To say that  UP only produces communists is like saying UP graduates in the Cabinet and in government are trojan horses. Will  they now say that communists have infiltrated government to justify a purge?” he asked.

Binay challenged the administration to protect academic freedom and not suppress it if it is really protecting the country’s democracy.

“If it believes what it is doing is right, then it should not be afraid to debate. If it believes it is protecting the interest of the people, then it should not be afraid of students,” he reiterated.

“Kung takot sa malayang pag-iisip, kung takot sa malayang diskusyon, kung takot sa estudyante, alam na [If they are afraid of freedom to think, freedom of speech , and afraid of students, then we get it],” he concluded.

Creating a problem

Rep. Michael Defensor of Anakalusugan party-list said he  is hoping that Secretary Lorenzana “will find the wisdom” to recall his sudden revocation of the 32-year-old accord that prevented soldiers from freely entering any of the campuses of the UP.

“We are hoping that Camp Aguinaldo will come to realize that it just created a problem where there used to be none. UP does not need any protection from the military,” Defensor, a UP alumnus, said.

“Any unwanted military presence in UP, or in any higher institution of learning for that matter, is bound to constitute an invasion of academic freedom,” Defensor said.

“We certainly do not want soldiers, whether in uniform or civilian clothes, stalking campuses and inhibiting the freedom of our teachers and students to study and express their ideas,” Defensor said.

Fascist?

Environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, in statement, said the termination of the accord “is yet another fascist attempt of the Duterte government to interfere with UP’s academic freedom and historic tradition as a safe space for progressive and democratic activism.”

“We recall how UP has opened its doors to the Lakbayan and Kampuhan of indigenous people, national minorities, and farmers protesting mining plunder, land grabs, and other attacks against their ancestral lands since 2012,” the group said.

They added that UP also continues to host indigenous Lumad students who were forced to evacuate from their schools and communities in Mindanao. With Jonathan  Mayuga