Robredo: Dialogue could have addressed DND’s issues with UP

Instead of unilaterally terminating their 31-year-old accord, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Sunday that the Department of National Defense (DND) should have held a dialogue with the University of the Philippines (UP) if it had valid concerns.

In her weekly radio show, Robredo opposed anew the DND’s decision to abrogate its accord with UP that prevented security forces from freely entering the campus without prior coordination.

“Sabihin pa natin na may problema, puwede namang ginawang maayos iyong proseso para harapin iyong problema. Parang ang ginawa kasi dito… may kasunduan, tapos parang from out of nowhere, nag-unilateral na abrogation ng isang kasunduan na matagal nang nirerespeto. Para sa akin, iyon iyong pinaka-foul doon eh,” she said.

The DND claimed that “clandestine recruitment” of students into the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army was taking place on UP campuses.

UP President Danilo Concepcion said the termination of the pact was “totally unnecessary and unwarranted.”

“Kung mayroong basehan iyong kanilang reklamo, sana i-present ito sa UP community, i-demand sa UP community na, alam mo iyon, pagtulungan, pagtulungan iyong mga problema na nagbe-beset sa atin,” Robredo said.

The Vice President also stressed that military actions were not enough to quell radicalism.

“Iyong pagku-quell ng ganitong mga actions, iyong mga radical actions, hindi naman purely military iyong solusyon eh, ‘di ba?” she said. “Nakita natin ito, sa maraming mga lugar, na iyong solution mas good governance, iyong solution mas pag-address sa mga kahirapan na pinagdadaanan ng mga tao.”

“Kapag dissatisfied iyong tao, kapag pakiramdam ng tao hindi na siya pinapakinggan, kapag palagay ng tao iyong mas radical na paraan iyong solusyon, doon siya naa-attract, doon siya nae-entice.”

Robredo earlier called the termination of the UP-DND accord as an attempt to strike fear among dissenters. — DVM, GMA News