HOWLS of protest met the Department of National Defense’s (DND) abrogation of the 1989 accord regarding the conduct of military and police operations within University of the Philippines (UP) campuses, with Defense secretary Delfin Lorenzana claiming in a statement on Jan. 19 that the university has become “a safe haven for enemies of the state” because of the accord.
The Secretary is outright red-tagging an entire university – and such can be considered a threat and harassment of the UP community, including its alumni. This is a perilous and brazen affront to the exercise of academic freedom and democratic rights as well as the safety and security of the university’s members. It is thus no surprise that the administrators, students, faculty, staff and non-academic employees, and alumni of UP view the DND’s invalidation of the accord as yet another indication of intolerance to critical thinking and political dissent being exercised by members of the UP community.
On Jan. 15, Lorenzana wrote to UP President Danilo Concepcion notifying him of the “termination” or “abrogation” of the said agreement, complaining that the accord was a “hindrance in providing effective security, safety, and welfare of students, faculty, and employees of UP” and citing the so-called recruitment of members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army in the university. Lorenzana further stated that the accord has become “obsolete” for “times and circumstances have changed since the agreement was signed” three years after the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship.
Archaic? What is archaic and obsolete is the use of the communist bogey in every aspect of governance, from pandemic response to peace and development issues, to quell public criticism and discontent on the failure to protect and uphold people’s rights. Interestingly, this same red scare hysteria was used by Marcos to declare martial law.
The UP-DND Accord was a product of the youth movement’s struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and all forms of fascist attacks by state security forces, including those against UP’s students, faculty, staff and alumni. It traced its formalization into an agreement to the campaign for the restoration of student councils, publications and organizations during Marcos’ martial law and against the succeeding violations conducted even within the confines of the academia in 1989 when a staff of the Philippine Collegian (official student publication of UP), Donato Continente, was abducted, tortured and detained by State agents.
A similar agreement exists between the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the DND in 1990. These agreements embody the grave distrust and condemnation of the repressive tactics of State security forces in schools or academic institutions. But despite such agreements, police and military presence and activities within campuses have continued, with forums red-tagging student organizations and bodies.
With the abrogation of the accord, is the DND shortcutting its means in conducting military and police operations with impunity in school campuses?
