Some House members eyeing resolution for DND to reconsider termination of accord with UP — Defensor

Some members of the House of Representatives are eyeing the passage of a resolution urging the chamber to call on the Department of National Defense (DND) to respect its agreement with the University of the Philippines (UP), Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor said Friday. 

Speaking to reporters, Defensor said the proposed resolution will ask the DND to reconsider the termination of the 1989 accord that barred soldiers and policemen from entering the premises of UP campuses without prior notice to the university.

Defensor said Quezon City Representative Kit Belmonte and Marikina City Representative Stella Quimbo joined the initiative. Defensor, Belmonte and Quimbo are members of the UP alumni.

“Yung 1989 accord should be respected, and in fact, should be reinstated. I appeal to the Department of National Defense, kay Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana, na kung puwede naman payagan n’yo ‘yan kasi nga yung academic freedom ng ating Pamantasan ng Pilipinas ay maaapektuhan,” Defensor said.

Earlier, Belmonte filed a bill seeking to apply the provisions of the UP-DND accord to all state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country.

Under House Bill 8443, no permit should be required by the national or local government for any person or persons to organize and hold a public assembly in SUCs.

Uniformed personnel should also not interfere with peaceful protest action by SUC constituents within SUC premises, the bill stated.

Like the UP-DND accord, uniformed personnel cannot conduct any operation inside these academic institutions without prior coordination with their officials.

A bill has been filed in the Senate seeking to include the accord in the UP Charter.

In justifying the abrogation, Lorenzana said the agreement was "obsolete" and that UP had become a venue for "clandestine recruitment" into the New People's Army. 

UP president Danilo Concepcion has called the termination unnecessary and unwarranted. He urged Lorenzana to reconsider his decision. — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News