Are you Favor or not in favor of the Unilateral Abrogation of the UP- DND Accord?

32 years ago, then UP President Jose Abueva and then-Defense Chief Fidel V.
Ramos signed the UP- DND Accord. The Accord laid down the guidelines on military
and police operations inside the UP campuses. The guidelines were established due to
the rampant abduction, torture, and killings of faculty, employees, and students of the
State University. One of the reasons that the accord was signed was due to the
abduction incident that happened inside of the campus of a former Philippine Collegian
staff named Donato Continente. The abduction happened due to the murder of an
American soldier and was allegedly killed by Continente.

However, in January 2021, Defense Secretary Lorenzana announced that the

Department of Defense unilaterally abrogated the UP- DND Accord. This decision of the
DND has no prior communication with the University who is also the signatory of the
accord. They cited that the University has been a haven of Communist recruitment. And
according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, allegedly 18 students from UP were
killed by the government security forces in a recent conflict. But no reports or
intelligence assessment of where these alleged students were recruited.

But does this immediate move by the Defense department appropriate at this
time? As I see it, the move of the DND is inappropriate at this time. Currently, the
Philippines is in the middle of a pandemic, yes, it is right that the work of protecting the
Philippines from insurgents should not stop even at this time but still, it is not needed at
this time. Second, AFP, DND, and PNP cannot also provide concrete evidence that the
UP campuses is a haven of communist recruitments even though according to the
accord, the government security forces can collaborate and communicate with the
university. Over the years, the university confidently denies any allegation of communist
recruitments. DND only presented the alleged 18 students from UP who were killed but
is it already concrete evidence that UP is a haven of communist recruitment?

Lorenzana reiterated in the interviews that the government security forces will not
intervene in any lawful dissent that will violate the freedom of expression or speech of
the UP community. However, it still does not answer the question of why the hasty
unilateral abrogation of the UP- DND Accord without communication to the University
before presenting it to the media. One of the points that the UP community raised is the
academic freedom of the students, faculty, and employees. But why is academic
freedom important to the UP community? According to Article 14 Section 5, “Academic
freedom shall be enjoyed in all institutions of higher learning”. In my opinion, the
accord was created not just to protect the academic life of the students but also to
protect the critical thinking way of the students.

In the past few years, UP and other higher institutions have been a target of the
government security forces. For example, in 2018 the National Task Force to End Local
Communist Armed Conflict (NTF- ELCAC) red-tagged higher institutions as a haven of
communist recruitment. Their explanation in this incident is about how these schools
taught their students. Their spokesperson once said that due to a film showing like
Martial Law or topics about Philippine Corruption. But these examples given by the said
spokesperson are part of academic freedom, it is taught because it is needed to be
critically- thinked by the students, whether or not they are true.

To conclude, I am against the hasty unilateral abrogation of the Department of

National Defense. One of the jobs of the defense department is to protect and serve the
people. However, to protect and serve the people, this must go hand in hand with trust
from the people who they are working with. The Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution
declared and enumerates the civil and political rights of all people. All people means it
includes the students who enjoy academic freedom inside the UP camp[uses without
threats of the security forces without proper evidence. The Accord was signed to protect
its students from violations that the government puts on students, faculty, and
employees allegedly. How will you build a trusting community if this kind of move from
the government doesn’t have proper coordination and talks to the other party? A decent
person or group of people of authority should at least be open to communicating with
the other party.