DOJ won’t issue legal opinion on UP-DND pact unless requested — Guevarra

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will not issue a legal opinion on the termination of the University of the Philippines-Department of National Defense accord unless requested, Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Monday.

Guevarra has declined to comment on the unilateral termination of the UP-DND pact, saying the matter may reach his office for adjudication.

Considering the "apparent dispute" between UP and the DND on the validity of the termination of the accord, the secretary said the DOJ will view any request for legal opinion as a request for administrative adjudication or settlement under the Revised Administrative Code.

"The SOJ, as attorney general, does not issue legal opinions or commence administrative adjudication proceedings unless requested by heads of government agencies or other state instrumentalities," he said in a message to reporters.

For three decades, the UP-DND accord prohibited the unauthorized presence of state forces in UP campuses. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana terminated the pact this month without consulting university officials, claiming UP has become a venue for recruitment into the communist insurgency.

The UP community protested the move, with university president Danilo Concepcion urging Lorenzana to reconsider his decision.

The defense secretary said he is willing to talk but only if UP would explain the supposed deaths of its students who purportedly joined the communist New People's Army.

Critics fear that the termination of the accord threatens the freedom that has made UP a safe space for protests and critical thought for decades. The military, on the other hand, claims the pact stood in the way of law enforcement. — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News