DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday said the defense department has decided not to revive its agreement with the University of the Philippines that prohibits government troops from conducting operations inside university campuses without prior notice to school officials.
“After much scrutiny and study, we at the defense department concluded we need not restore it,” Lorenzana told an online news interview, referring to the 1989 agreement between the UP and the Department of National Defense.
Lorenzana unilaterally abrogated the agreement in January last year due to what he said were clandestine student recruitment activities of the New People’s Army inside UP campuses.
The decision caused an uproar among university officials and students, but Lorenzana insisted that his decision was meant to protect UP students as he noted that many of them have been identified to have joined the NPA, with some of them allegedly getting killed during encounters with government troops.
UP officials expressed grave concern over Lorenzana’s decision to abrogate the accord, arguing that the agreement was forged to protect academic freedom inside the campuses.
DND and UP officials held consultations to reconcile their differences, with the end view of reviving the agreement.
“As far as we are concerned, the agreement is moot and academic,” said Lorenzana. “I think the UP president also knows that (the) agreement is already moot and academic,” he added.
The accord was signed while the Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police was still the Armed Forces. The PC-INP was replaced by the PNP, which was established in 1991 under the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Lorenzana said the military no longer have police functions, including arresting people and conducting law enforcement patrols. He said these functions now lie with the PNP.
Lorenzana said if UP wants to stop police operations inside UP campuses, they should talk with the DILG which has a similar agreement with the university forged in 1992.
The DILG terminated the agreement after the abrogation of the DND-UP agreement, though DILG and UP have agreed to revisit the agreement and determine if there is a need to revive the accord.
