Duterte supports termination of DND-UP accord —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte supports the decision of the Department of National Defense (DND) to unilaterally terminate its agreement with the University of the Philippines (UP) on the entry of state forces in its campuses.

Speaking at a news conference, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the President backed the decision because Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is his “alter ego.”

A UP alumnus and former law professor, Roque also observed that campuses in the United States and Europe have police presence but academic freedom was never violated.

“Personally po, ako po ay 15 taon nagturo, 10 taon nag-aral sa UP eh yung 25 years ko sa UP hindi ko naranasan na nandoon ang pulis,” he said.

“Hindi lang naman UP ang pamantasan na mayroong academic freedom. Sa buong mundo po mayroon iyan at sa buong mundo, sakop naman po sila ng kapulisan.”

Asked if the development would allow soldiers to arrest people in rallies at UP, Roque replied that the mandate of the military is limited to “defense purposes.” He pointed out that state security forces can do surveillance work throughout the country.

“Kung surveillance, hindi naman po ipinagbabawal iyan. Pero iyong mga kidnapping, iyong mga ganiyan, iyan po ang mga pinagbabawal o iyong wiretapping na walang court order, iyan po mga puwedeng ipagbawal,” Roque said.

The accord, which was hatched under the Cory Aquino administration in June 1989, provided that the military and the police were prohibited from entering the premises of any UP campus or its regional units without prior notice to the UP administration.

However, Lorenzana told UP president Danilo Concepcion in a January 15 letter that the pact was hindering the DND from providing “effective security, safety and welfare” of the students, faculty, and employees of UP.

He also said UP has become a “safe haven” for communist rebels that allegedly recruited students of the premier state university.

Lorenzana has also described the agreement as “obsolete.”

Concepcion responded by asking Lorenzana to reconsider the abrogation, adding the agreement did not seek to evade or weaken the law but to protect academic freedom “that makes intellectual inquiry and human and social advancement possible.”

“Papakinggan naman po iyan pero kinakailangan magsalita pa po nang mas malinaw si President Danilo Concepcion nang malaman ang kaniyang paninindigan at kung ano iyong mga dahilan kung bakit dapat ma-reconsider iyan,” Roque said.

Some politicians and youth groups denounced the DND's action.

“Nasa mga taga-UP rin po iyan,” Roque said. “Hindi po nila hahayaan na mabalewala at malabag ang kanilang karapatan sa academic freedom.”

Duterte last year threatened to defund UP for allegedly being a breeding ground for communist rebels.

UP Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Elena Pernia on Tuesday said the university does not condone the recruitment of students to the New People’s Army (NPA) inside the campus.

“The University does not recruit and we do not condone ang mga acts ng sedition. We do not condone this,” Pernia said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV. —KBK, GMA News