MANILA, Philippines — Students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines have raised the alarm over the defense department's termination of an agreement with the university that prohibits the military and police from conducting operations on campus without coordination with the school administration.
This comes after the university’s student council heard reports that the 1990 agreement between PUP and the Department of National Defense unilaterally terminated a year ago in January 2022 — without a public announcement from either PUP or the DND.
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According to a letter from the state university’s chief legal counsel addressed to the student council, and which the latter posted on their Facebook page, PUP received a letter from then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Jan. 19, 2022 which "unilaterally terminates the Memorandum of Agreement between the DND and PUP dated August 21, 1990."
The termination of the DND-PUP pact was made without any prior dialogue with PUP, according to the letter signed by university chief legal counsel Joanna Marie Liao.
PUP responded to Lorenzana on Feb. 7, 2022 expressing their opposition over the removal of the agreement and said that the protocols outlined in the accords were "established as a way of harmonizing the varied views and duties of the academe” under basic fundamental rights.
"Rather than resolving the issues, PUP believes that repudiating the Agreement will only cause more confusion and unrest," the letter read.
"While we recognize and value the role of our law enforcers in the preservation of peace and order in our society, we renounce any form of restriction to free expression, inquiry and discussion in the PUP academic community," the letter added.
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The DND-PUP agreement, also known as the Prudente-Ramos Accord of 1990, is an agreement between the DND and PUP that prohibits any military or police operations in any of the PUP campuses, buildings, and other premises without prior notice.
PUP's letter to DND ended with a request for the department to "reconsider their decision and for a dialogue."
"To this date, we have not yet received any response from the agency,” the letter dated April 18 read.
Philstar.com has reached out to both the PUP legal team and the DND for comment.
How the termination came to light
PUP students caught wind of the termination when they asked in a March 27 meeting with university officials to include the DND-PUP Accord in the university's student handbook to tighten security measures against "police and military threats,” according to a letter from PUP’s student council addressed to Liao.
"In connection with this, [Attorney] Liao mentioned that an official notice of termination of the PUP-DND Accord had already been sent to the university administration,” the letter read.
According to its letter, PUP's student council "tried to extract the information” about this during their meeting, “but [Attorney] Liao mentioned that it is better to make a formal request if we want to know the specific details."
PUP’s student council’s letter to the university stated that “for the past few months and years,” it has been “vigilant” about any developments related to the PUP-DND Accord and has “always assured the students that (it) is still in effect."
The need for transparency “especially with the rights and welfare of the students” pushed the student council to write a letter addressed to the university.
In a statement on Wednesday, PUP's student council opposed the unilateral termination of the DND-PUP accord and said that it has been instrumental in keeping the campus a "sanctuary" of peace and academic freedom.
The student council also said that the termination of the pact is a challenge to the PUP community, "especially the administration," to guarantee the safety of students inside the campus.
UP-DND accord scrapped in 2021 too
In 2021, then-Defense Secretary Lorenzana threatened to scrap all agreements similar to the 1989 UP-DND accord that only allows security forces to enter university premises under limited conditions -- a post-Martial Law-era agreement drawn up to safeguard students from threats curtailing their right to free expression.
At the time, Lorenzana had already written to UP president Danilo Concepcion unilaterally terminating the UP-DND accord. He also floated the idea of removing the DND-PUP accord in a press briefing, but did not make it clear whether he has officially done so.
The move to junk the agreement with UP is part of the government's campaign against the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People's Army, which Lorenzana said UP has become a "safe haven" and recruitment ground for.