Lorenzana on reconsidering termination of UP-DND pact: I'll think about it

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday said he is open to reconsidering his decision to terminate the agreement with the University of the Philippines (UP) banning police and military forces inside campus.

Interviewed on CNN Philippines, Lorenzana said that during the meeting of UP and Department of Defense (DND) officials last Thursday, he told UP president Danilo Concepcion that he will think about withdrawing his decision.

“I told Danny Concepcion I will think about it,” Lorenzana said when asked if he is considering rethinking the termination of the agreement.

However, he said he will wait first for the recommendation of the panel created to discuss the DND-UP accord issue before making a decision.

“But now that we have this panel who will talk in finding ways to move forward, let us not preempt the recommendation. We will wait for the recommendation later on. We will move from there,” he said.

“Yes, I am open to rethinking that,” he added.

In January, the DND ended the decades-old pact with UP that prevented state forces from entering the campus without prior coordination with school officials, claiming that the university has become a recruitment spot for communist and rebel groups.

The UP community and other concerned groups protested the termination, which they said would affect the academic freedom of the university with a threat of militarization. UP officials denied that they allow recruitment of communist rebels in the campus.

With the help of the Commission on Higher Education, top officials from UP and DND discussed the issue in a meeting last week. —KBK, GMA News