Today, January 18, marks a year since the Duterte administration unilaterally terminated the University of the Philippines (UP) – Department of National Defense (DND) Accord.
The lies of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana remain fresh in the minds of the students, faculty, and everyone whose academic freedom will be taken away because of the termination.
“The country’s premier state university has become a safe haven for enemies of the state,” said Gen. Lorenzana.
Even before the Accord’s unilateral abrogation, accounts of red-tagging and harassment of UP students and faculty have been occurring.
SINAG and its editors, for instance, have been victims of media repression, red-tagging, and death threats—all enabled by a culture of impunity and environment of suppression Duterte created.
President Rodrigo Duterte himself baselessly branded the university as a recruitment ground for communists and threatened to defund the institution if they continue to criticize the government’s irresponsible and abusive actions.
With the termination of the accord and possible entry of state forces, risk in the safety and security of the UP community has increased tenfold. All in the name of state terrorism and McCarthyite attempts to conceal its failures and crimes.
The UP-DND Accord is a product of the struggles of the militant student movement against a fascist dictatorship.
The Accord was signed by then UP President Jose Abueva and then-Defense Chief Fidel Ramos on June 30, 1989.
It was based on a prior 1981 Soto-Enrile Agreement which prohibits police and military presence in the schools, arbitrary arrests against students, and use of unjustified force in breaking up protests.
The Accord barred any military activities inside the UP campuses without prior notification to the university administration and ensured the safety and protection of the UP community from any activities hindering academic freedom and the freedom of speech.
Since the revocation, the UP community is united, through various channels, to uphold the agreement. One measure done is to file for its institutionalization in the 2008 UP Charter.
House Bill 10171
This act seeks to institutionalize the 1989 UP-DND accord through amending Section 11 of RA 9500, or the UP Charter of 2008. It appeals to include the provisions of the accord under the said section. Moreover, House Bill 10171 consolidates other similar legislative efforts to institutionalize the accord.
The proposed subsections include prior notification on the entry of police and military units in all UP campuses, prohibition on the entry of PNP, AFP, and other law enforcement agency personnel, the limitation on the service of search and arrest warrants, and limitation on the arrest, custodial investigation, and detention of students, faculty or personnel.
The act also seeks to protect the civil rights of the UP community through the prohibition of the PNP, AFP, and other law enforcement agencies’ interference in peaceful protest actions.
It also includes the strengthening of the security, crime response and prevention, and firefighting capabilities of the institutions, and the establishment of a joint monitoring group.
The act finally passed the third and last reading on September 21, 2021, with 179 affirmative votes and without any negative votes and abstains. However, the House approved a controversial motion for reconsideration filed by NTF-ELCAC supporter Rep. Boying Remulla on September 30, 2021.
Members of the Senate also expressed their support for the institutionalization of the UP-DND Accord and have since introduced Senate Bills to further strengthen the arguments for institutionalization.
Three Senate Bills addressed to the amendment of the University of the Philippines Charter of 2008 are as follows:
Senate Bill 2002
This bill received on January 20, 2021, was introduced by Senators Joel Villanueva, Sonny Angara, Nancy Binay, and Grace Poe in light of the recent issues faced by the university.
It aims to respect the civil rights of the individuals part of the UP community in partaking in protest actions, as well as preventing the unwarranted intrusion of state forces in all campuses.
The provisions of the act are the same as those stated in the subsections of House Bill 10171, except subsection H regarding compliance and penalties.
You can read the proposed bill here: http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3429231092!.pdf
Senate Bill 2014
Senate Bill 2014 was introduced by UP alumni and former UP Student Regent Senator Francis Pangilinan in support of the institutionalization of the UP-DND Accord, received on January 25, 2021. The provisions of the bill are similar to that of Senate Bill 2002.
You can read more on the proposed bill here: https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3430931109!.pdf
Senate Bill 2035
This Senate Bill, similar to the previous proposals, was introduced by Senator Leila De Lima, received on February 1, 2021. It appeals for the amendment of Section 2 of RA 9500 (UP Charter) as follows:
The State shall exert efforts to protect the academic freedom of UP under Article 14, section 5(2) of the 1987 Constitution and shall implement policies that allow the freedom of expression and other liberties that academic freedom entails such as unrestrained exchange of ideas. The State is also responsible for guaranteeing that the exercise of said freedoms will be clear of intimidation from state security forces within the university premises.
You can read more on the proposed bill here:https://legacy.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/3441631228!.pdf
Such actions taken by members of the legislature are backed by the UP community. These are steps that bring the country closer towards a more progressive and secure academic environment that supports, instead of threatens, academic freedom.
It safeguards the civil rights and liberties of the students, faculty, and staff of UP, and creates a space for learning without fear of intervention from the state security forces.
As the Office of the UP Student Regent asserts, “Our work is not done”.
In the previously-held emergency General Assembly of Student Councils last December, a resolution was passed upholding the Defend UP campaign. Its contents include defending UP and its academic freedom and declaring January 18 as a day of protest to commemorate the Accord’s unilateral abrogation.
The fight to achieve academic freedom and to ensure the safety of the individuals of the academic community is far from over. Bills to defend academic freedom should not only be exclusive to UP but also to other educational institutions.
Most importantly, we must ensure our academic freedom from the attacks launched by the Duterte administration to let a hundred flowers bloom and a thousand schools contend in UP.
#DefendUP
#DefendAcademicFreedom
Featured image courtesy of Mark Demayo
