UP ChemEng to AFP spox: Shabu lab? Don’t make hypothetical statements sans facts

The Department of Chemical Engineering in the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman on Wednesday asked the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) not to make hypothetical statements “absent of any factual basis” following a controversial remark by the military spokesman.

Earlier in the day, Major General Edgard Arevalo said the UP-Department of Defense (DND) accord, which prevents the military and police from freely entering campus grounds, could hamper valid operations of state forces.

"Paano na lamang po kung mayroong shabu laboratory, for instance, sa loob ng UP community or campus and then meron po tayong valid arrest warrant at search warrant?” he said in a news conference. 

The UP Diliman Chemical Engineering Department underscored that all its academic and research activities inside the campus are “fully compliant” with the law.

“The acquisition of necessary permits regardless of the amount of chemical reagents used in the laboratories has oftentimes delayed the implementation of our research, but we always follow the law,” it said in a statement. 

“The unilateral abrogation of the UP-DND accord is an issue of academic freedom. We kindly request that the AFP leadership refrain from issuing hypothetical statements absent of any factual basis,” it added.

The 31-year-old pact was unilaterally terminated by the DND on Monday, with Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana claiming that communists were recruiting students inside UP campuses. 

The move has been roundly condemned by students and lawmakers alike.

Senators have filed a bill seeking to institutionalize the UP-DND accord to uphold academic freedom.  — Julia Mari Ornedo/BM, GMA News