UP ROTC alumni express grave concern, ask DND to reconsider ending accord

The UP Vanguard Inc. is calling on the Department of National Defense (DND) to reconsider its termination of a 31-year-old agreement with the University of Philippines banning the entry into the university of military and police forces without prior coordination with UP officials.

“The UP Vanguard Inc. joins the whole University of the Philippines (UP) community in expressing its grave concern on the unilateral abrogation by the Department of National Defense (DND) of the 1989 agreement with UP,” the organization said in a statement.

UP Vanguard is an alumni organization of graduates of the UP’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corp.

In a letter dated January 15, 2021, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana informed UP President Danilo Concepcion of the DND's decision to end the agreement, citing information that communists are recruiting students inside UP campuses.

The accord, which was hatched under the first 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.

Lorenzana said the pact was hindering the DND in providing “effective security, safety and welfare” of the students, faculty, and employees of UP.

“We urge the DND to reconsider its unilateral abrogation and respect UP’s role in our society,” UP Vanguard said.

“Furthermore, we urge both parties to continue its mutual partnership and respect by discussing matters and agreeing to the best course of action, as necessary. If needed, the UP Vanguard offers its good offices to make this genuine and transparent dialogue happen. All for Duty, Honor, and Country!” the organization said.

The DND’s unilateral termination of its pact with UP was opposed by several lawmakers from both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The UP Vanguard said that despite being accused of being pro-military or pro-militarization, it learned to live with activists and left-leaning organizations in a “thriving environment of learning and critical-thinking” all within the “ambit of the law and as guaranteed by academic freedom.”

The 31-year-old pact came about after a staff member of UP’s student paper, Philippine Collegian, was abducted, tortured, and forced to confess to the killing of an American soldier.

The UP Vanguard, however, said that the pact does not make UP “untouchable.”

“As a matter of fact, the agreement provides that ‘UP officials shall extend the necessary assistance in the enforcement of the law within UP premises’ whenever ‘requested by law enforcers’,” it said.

“The agreement merely guarantees coordination, cooperation and transparency, which are fairly expected between partners,” it added.

The organization said that UP has always been a bastion of freedom and UP protects critical thinkers “without fear of being persecuted for what they believe in as long as they act within the bounds of law.”

It said that the 1989 agreement provides for a mechanism of monitoring and collaboration should there be issues regarding it.

As critical thinkers, UP Vanguard said the following question should be asked in relation to the DND’s unilateral termination of its pact with UP:

•     Has the security sector coordinated with UP within the ambit of the agreement to address its concerns, particularly on addressing alleged lawless elements within its premises?
•     Has the security sector raised its concerns citing actual operations that might have been barred by the agreement?
•     Has the security sector given the proper respect to a fellow government institution involved in nation-building to discuss the concerns regarding the agreement before unilaterally abrogating it?

Lorenzana has alleged that recent events indicated that a number of UP students have been identified as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) and claimed some of them were killed during military and police operations, while others were captured and surrendered to the authorities.

The DND was aware of the supposed “clandestine recruitment” inside UP campuses nationwide by the CPP/NPA and that the accord was being used as “a shield or propaganda,” according to the Defense chief. -NB, GMA News