UP-DND accord repeal unacceptable – chancellor

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) Chancellor Dr. Clement C. Camposano renewed his opposition to the Department of National Defense’s move in mid-January 2021 to terminate the 31-year-old UP-DND accord.

In an episode of “STREAMING HOT!”, a podcast by UPV professor Bobby Rodriguez, on Sunday, Camposano again raised the topic of the UP-DND accord which was signed on June 30, 1989.

The Accord signed by former UP President Jose Abueva and former DND Secretary Fidel V. Ramos, was an update of the Soto-Enrile accord signed by then-UP student leader Sonia Soto and then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile on Oct. 28, 1981.

Basically, this was an agreement which prohibited members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Integrated National Police (INP), the predecessor to today’s Philippine National Police, from entering UP campuses without prior notification to the university’s administration.

The arrest or detention of any student, faculty, or employee anywhere in the Philippines should be reported immediately to the UP administration. Custodial investigations against members of the UP community without prior notice are also prohibited.

An exception is only given to persons “caught red-handed” and “hot pursuit” arrests which do not require any warrant, where the authorities have to provide a report to the university administration within 24 hours.

The current accord was negotiated in response to the arrest of Philippine Collegian staffer Donato Continente inside the UP Diliman campus for the alleged killing of American soldier James Rowe.

According to reports, Continente claimed that he was tortured and abducted by authorities to get him to admit to the crime.

Camposano said the UP-DND accord “institutionalizes” the balance between the need for law enforcement and national security, and academic freedom within the university.

“The accord really articulates certain principles that are already there in the Constitution and in other existing laws, but in a way that would allow our law enforcement agencies to perform their mandate, in a way that does not disrupt the mission of the university, which was to create a democratic space, a free market of ideas, a critical mind, a critical consciousness. It’s so necessary for democracy to function,” said Camposano.

On January 19, the Collegian released the January 15 letter of DND Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to UP President Danilo Concepcion terminating the said Accord.

In his letter, Lorenzana cited Republic Act No. 11479 (Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020), alleging that UP was being a ‘safe haven’ for members of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), and its political wing, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), or more collectively known as the CPP-NPA-NDF.

This was met with widespread opposition from the UP community, including members of Congress and local leaders who were UP alumni.

Camposano said that they were shocked by the sudden abrogation of the Accord, especially given the timing when vocal critics of the government were being “red-tagged”.

Red-tagging refers to the accusation against a person of being a member of the CPP-NPA-NDF or other rebel groups, without any basis.

“We were really quite surprised that this was abrogated and without consultation, and what makes it more disconcerting is that it comes at a time when the red-tagging activities intensified. You have people in the commanding heights of their organizations in the military making very cavalier statements about UP being a safe haven for the enemies of the state, a breeding ground for communist rebels, so on,” he said.

He added that the community found the allegations thrown against UP as “unacceptable”, saying that no one in the UP community would accept being maligned as an “enemy of the state”.

“We cannot accept the fact, the allegation that we are a breeding ground of communist rebels, we are a ‘safe haven’ for enemies of the state, which is really another way of saying ‘terrorist’, right? We cannot also accept the situation that will be created by the abrogation, and we certainly do not accept the premises upon which it is based, especially the kind of rendering that they’ve done with regards to the university. On so many levels, it’s just so wrong. I think any right-thinking constituent of the university should register his or her opposition to what has happened,” he said.

He also remarked that a university, pertaining not only to UP but other state-run universities as well, is not just a place to develop skills, but also a venue for the people to understand their place in society.

“[U]ltimately, the work of a university is not just a training institute. It’s not just a place where you acquire skills. The university is where you nurture a certain critical orientation, where you also nurture both the sociological and the historical imagination so that people can begin to understand their place in society and how their biographies intersect with history, but that they can also understand the historical moment, the larger historical scene,” he remarked.

Camposano also shared his theory on the abrogation, alluding to President Rodrigo Duterte’s relationship with the military.

The chancellor surmised that since the President’s term is expected to end on June 2022, that the military establishment may be using this as a “tool” in their “outsized” power in the government.

“My sense is that because the term of [President Duterte] is ending soon, that perhaps there are some people within the Defense establishment that are trying to maximize whatever opportunities they have. Perhaps the window could be closing to those certain things and they’re taking advantage of it,” he thought.

He said on this note that in protecting UP and academic freedom itself, the university’s “best bet” would have to be the UP community.

“Who will protect the interests of the university in such a situation? I think our best bet would have to be our community. Not just professor, but also students, alumni, all these sectors to come together and articulate the institutional interests of the university. UP is a diverse place, it’s a plural place. There are a lot of ideological interests within the university, but that doesn’t mean we couldn’t come together when it comes to certain core issues, and I think this is as core as it gets,” the chancellor said.